The NFL informed teams that the salary cap in 2021 will not be less than $ 180 million, a slight increase over last year’s agreement between the league and the NFLPA.
The league has indicated in a memo that the $ 180 million is not the final figure for the wage cap, just a floor adjustment of the cap set last summer in negotiations with the union.
The final 2021 cap figure, the memo notes, “will be set after reviewing the final earnings figures in 2020 and other auditable and accounting adjustments.” The new year of the league and free agency are scheduled to begin on March 17th.
Sources familiar with the negotiations told ESPN that the final figure is likely to be between $ 180 and $ 185 million, although it is almost certain to remain in the lower spectrum of that range.
“As you know, one aspect of the agreements negotiated last summer with the NFLPA on operations during the pandemic indicates that the 2021 Wage Top will not be less than $ 175 million,” the memo notes. “After discussions with the union on issues such as real earnings in 2020 and projected attendance for the 2021 season, we have agreed to increase the minimum for the 2021 League Wage Top of the Year in $ 180 million. In due course, we will inform all clubs when the Wage Top is set. “
Last summer, while negotiating agreements under which the league would proceed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL and NFLPA agreed that the original salary cap floor would be $ 175 million per team by 2021. he took this decision as a precaution in the face of the possibility of having losses in earnings that would lower the wage cap.
A source indicated that the numbers for earnings on which the limit is based annually would have led to the limit being around $ 160 million per team, which would have been a considerable and disastrous reduction of the $ 198.2 million with which each team operated in 2020.
With the flat now set at $ 180 million, the limit will be about $ 20 million higher than it would have been otherwise. That $ 20 million will have to be “borrowed” against future tops and the way this will happen is subject to negotiations between the league and the union.
For example, if earnings projections give a salary cap of $ 220 million in 2022 and another of $ 230 million in 2023, the NFL and NFLPA could agree to reduce those numbers by $ 10 million in each of those years to offset the 2021 $ 20 million discrepancy.
The final figure for the 2021 wage cap could take a while to set, as the NFL continues its negotiation for new contracts with television networks. These contracts would affect earnings projections and could lead the league to expand the regular season to 17 games as early as next season.
However, a source close to these negotiations said that the outcome of the same, in the best case scenario, will not increase the 2021 wage cap beyond $ 185 million.
Teams can transfer available space to the salary cap of previous years, so any available space that teams have below the $ 198.2 million limit in 2020 can be applied to the 2021 cap.
Total attendance last regular season was 1.2 million, down from 17 million in 2019. Thirteen teams did not allow fans in their regular season games and other clubs limited the number of people to meet the social distancing and health and safety regulations in their states.
AP contributed to this report.