Wow, I wish I could give a "Winner" icon to a thread, because this would earn it. Amazing amount of useful information! Thanks to all.
My two cents:
If you look at the four AFC and NFC finalists from the 2016 season, how is it that the Patriots, who, as some of you might know, actually won the Super Bowl, have more cap space than any combination of two of the other teams (Steelers + Packers, Packers + Falcons, Steelers + Falcons) and only ~$14 million less than all three combined?
That, clearly, is a rhetorical question to which any Pats fan knows the answer and just another reason for them to "hate us 'cause they ain't us."