Mogamedogz

I hear so many fans on this forum spouting off about dollars, cap hits, and the dreaded "Cap Hell". Im just wondering if anyone can list some of the teams that have been set back and or strangled because of the salary cap over the last ten years.

I'll hang up and listen.

Rob0729

Contrary to what Felger says, there is still cap hell. Just not as severe as it was in the 90s. The Cowboys were in cap hell this year, but they cut a bunch of players and are now under the cap and can make moves. In the 90s, you had to cut the players and sit out free agency entirely.

I can't list the teams in this situation over the years, but there has been a bunch. I guess you can call it cap heck instead of cap hell.

Jared

The Titans come to mind, the year they basically just decided to gut the roster and bring in a ton of youth on the cheap. The problem with "cap hell" is actually what comes AFTER you cut the expensive players. You have to replace their production. Often the guys you are cutting are still solid players, they were just over priced.

The real problem: building teams is hard, and overpaying for players means you have to build more often.

jmt57

Going off the top of my head, I believe the Raiders were in 'cap hell' the year after they lost the Super Bowl to the Bucs (which would have been 2003) and Tampa Bay was in a really bad cap situation a year or two after that SB victory. Going a little further back the Ravens went all-in the year they won the Super Bowl (1999? 2000?) and were in a big-time cap crisis the very next season. Also if I'm not mistaken the Rams had to unload a lot of contracts at some point after their SB appearances, around 2003 or so.

The last several years there has been little or no cap hell primarily because the cap has risen so dramatically year over year. With double-digit growth every year teams have been able to overcome bad contracts far more easily than they could in the beginning of the free agency/salary cap era, when cap growth was far more modest.