The NFL’s on-field action has wrapped up this season, but the league is still finding ways to set new records.
The salary cap for the league is increasing to a record $255.4 million per club for the 2024 season—a 13.6% increase from $225 million this past season.
A significant portion of the notable year-over-year increase comes from the injection of revenue from the league’s new media deal that coincides with the end of the 2023 season and recent playoff expansion. Back in 2021, the NFL signed a long-term agreement with media partners ESPN/ABC, Fox, NBC, Amazon and CBS for distribution of its games along with other television and digital content. The freshly activated arrangement of media deals are collectively worth more than $110 billion over 11 years.
Also contributing to the $30.6 million jump is the league fully repaying advancements from teams and deferrals of player benefits made during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The news comes as the NFL prepares to host the scouting combine next week in Indianapolis, where agents often set meetings with general managers and soon-to-be free agents. The combine runs from Feb. 29 to March 3, and the new league year and free agent signing period begins 10 days after that on March 13.
The increase in salary cap is generally good news for players, as many general managers were budgeting for a lower projected figure—though key players who are re-signing at higher rates can quickly soak up the extra wiggle room. From a team perspective, the jump will be a sigh of relief for those in salary cap trouble and provides added flexibility.
The collection of Covid-19 deferred payments and new media revenue has the teams cruising into the 2024 season with more available money for free agents than ever. The 2021 salary cap fell to $183 million after losing billions in 2020 but has rebounded in short order.
The new salary cap, which the league announced on Friday, will include an additional $74 million per club payment for player benefits, with total players costs now $329 million per club.
