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2023 NFL Salary cap increases to unprecedented amount

By Sayre Bedinger

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 22: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looks on prior to a game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Levi's Stadium on January 22, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 22: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looks on prior to a game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Levi's Stadium on January 22, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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For the NFL right now, business is absolutely boomin’, and it has nothing to do with Antonio Brown. The NFL had to decrease its salary cap after the pandemic impacted truly every organization’s bottom line financially. After agreeing to new TV deals, the NFL salary cap has steadily risen back up to projections we once speculated on pre-pandemic.

The 2023 NFL salary cap has reportedly risen to new heights, a number unprecedented in league history. The prices of players have gone up, and so has every team’s spending limit. The salary cap will jump from just over $208 million in 2022 to almost $225 million in 2023 according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

This is, by no means, a minuscule jump, and it comes at a perfect time for many quarterbacks who are now going to be free agents or are eligible for contract extensions. Namely, every QB from the 2020 NFL Draft class (Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa) is now eligible for a contract extension.

Lamar Jackson is slated to become a free agent. Tom Brady is a free agent. There are a number of other quarterbacks who could look to restructure deals with new teams in the 2023 offseason like Derek Carr, who could be traded in two weeks’ time.

2023 NFL Salary Cap: Top 5 teams in total cap space

1. Chicago Bears: $98.638 million (per Spotrac)
2. Atlanta Falcons: $56.399 million
3. Cincinnati Bengals: $44.533 million
4. New York Giants $44.416 million
5. New England Patriots: $38.052 million

2023 NFL Salary Cap: Top 5 teams with the least cap space

32. New Orleans Saints: -57.384 million
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -55.717 million
30. Jacksonville Jaguars: -32.277 million
29. Tennessee Titans: -23.687 million
28. Minnesota Vikings: -21.021 million

The boost in NFL salary cap space obviously helps every team, even though there are teams like the Saints, Bucs, and Jaguars (among others) that will have to do a few gymnastics to get out of some trouble. At this point, it’s really nothing to worry about for those teams as we saw the Saints move a bunch of money around just last offseason to get out of the red and into the green, while also maintaining a level of aggressiveness with their moves.

Expect the salary cap to continue to rise for the NFL in the coming years.

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