Kenneth Sims

The Patriots reportedly believe some of their competitors are in bad shape cap wise which will result in even more players being released over the next few weeks and the free agent market being depressed to the point where they might be able to get some good bargains.

This made me wonder what had changed from previous years when teams like the Redskins would be $20 million over the cap the weekend before the new league year began and still be able to sign three big money free agents the next weekend without having to cut any good players.

The reason the "cap is no longer crap" is the new 89% cash floor which was part of the 2011 CBA and thought to be a victory for the union by forcing the Mike Browns of the NFL to actually spend. But, the cash floor will also make it much harder for teams to borrow from future caps to support current higher spending because it will be much harder to burn off dead money than it was before the cash floor came to be.

Before, if a team found itself in cap prison, it could burn off all this dead money by going through a season or two where their current payout would be significantly less than the cap. Now that the team has to pay out at least 89% of their cap in new money every season, it will not be able to emerge from cap prison so quickly.

Going forward in this CBA, teams are going to have to adopt a more pay as you go mentality. This is why this tight cap period is going to be so hard on so many teams. My guess is the Patriots front office understood this from the beginning. Just another reminder of how fortunate we are to be fans of the best franchise in the NFL.

jmt57

There are a few teams that appear to have quite a bit of money available to spend, though in some cases (e.g., Miami Dolphins) that is a mirage due to the number of roster spots open due to expiring contracts and soon to be free agents that they will need to either re-sign or replace.

» Over the Cap- NFL Salary Cap Space 2013

Top other NFL teams and their cap space, in millions of dollars.

$55 -- Bengals
$45 -- Browns
$44 -- Colts
$43 -- Dolphins
$31 -- Bucs
$23 -- Jaguars

ctpatsfan77

IIRC, there's some sort of "rolling average" that has to be met. And, as you noted, it's a cash floor based on the amount actually paid out. That said, if you have a couple big contracts a year, meeting the cash floor almost takes care of itself.

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chevss454

You have a good memory.

According to the CBA's Article 12, Section 9:

A) For each of the following four-League Year periods, 201 3-201 6 and 2017-2020, there shall be a guaranteed Minimum Team Cash Spending of 89% of theSalary Caps for such periods (e.g., if the Salary Caps for the 2013-1 6 and 2017-2020 are$100, 120, 1 30, and 1 50 million, respectively, each Club shall have a Minimum Team Cash Spending for that period of $445 million (89% of $500 million)).

If a team fails to meet that standard, the CBA continues:

B) Any shortfall in the Minimum Team Cash Spending at the end of a League Year in which it is applicable (i.e., the 2016 and 2020 League Years) shall be paid,on or before the next September 15, by the Team having such shortfall, directly to the players who were on such a Team's roster at any time during the applicable seasons, pursuant to the reasonable allocation instructions of the NFLPA.

ctpatsfan77

Thanks.

[It did come up a few weeks ago on this board or another one I frequent, though. ]

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ThatllMoveTheChains!!!

I'm guessing the flat cap over the past 4 years is playing a role as well. The cap is crap game was hugely dependent on a constantly inflating cap.

Kenneth Sims

The Bengals are similar to the Dolphins in that they have numerous free agents of their own as well.

BradyBranch39

I'm not as knowledgable about this as I was before the new CBA, but my gut is that you're missing a key detail or two.

The rolling average is one of them. The others, I can't think of at the moment.

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PatsFaninAZ

Some teams seem to be hedging by carrying forward pretty large cap carry-forwards from last year to keep flexibility to underspend.

Several teams carried forward over $10 million last year. The Bengals and Bills actually have enough space that if they wanted to, they could continue to carry over pretty large amounts each year even meeting the 89 percent spend. I'm actually a bit surprised by the carry forwards of some teams. Some teams, like the Broncos and Seahawks, carried forward a lot, but it was already partly spent. The Eagles, though, gave themselves a pretty big stockpile by carrying forward a whopping $23 million. Same with the Browns.

How does Indy have so much cap space? They carried forward hardly anything. Do they have lots of free agents or something?

patsinthesnow

They essentially had a college offense. QB, RB, TE1, TE2, WR2, WR4 were all rookies. The defense had alot of cheap scrubs too.