The NFL has informed the teams that the salary cap will be no less than $ 180 million by 2021, a slight increase from last year’s agreement between the league and the NFLPA.
The league said in a memo that the $ 180 million is not the final amount for the salary cap, but an adjustment to the bottom of the cap set during negotiations with the union last summer.
The final figure for the 2021 limit, the memo notes, “will be determined after review of the final 2020 revenue figures and other verifiable and accounting adjustments.” The competition’s New Year and Free Desk begin on March 17.
Sources familiar with the negotiations told ESPN that the final figure will likely be between $ 180 million and $ 185 million, although it is almost certain to fall in the lower spectrum of that range.
“As you know, one aspect of the agreements negotiated with the NFLPA last summer on operations during the pandemic indicates that the salary ceiling for 2021 will be no less than $ 175 million,” the memo said. “After discussions with the union covering topics such as 2020 actual earnings and the 2021 season turnout forecast, we agreed to raise the 2021 League Salary Cap of the Year minimum by $ 180 million. We will inform all clubs in due time when the salary ceiling has been set ”.
Last summer, while negotiating agreements under which the league would continue during the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL and NFLPA agreed that the original 2021 salary cap would be $ 175 million per team. This decision was taken as a warning against the possibility of loss of earnings lowering the salary ceiling.
One source indicated that the earnings numbers on which the cap is based annually would have been capped at approximately $ 160 million per team, which would have been a significant and disastrous decrease from the $ 198.2 million each team traded in 2020.
With the minimum threshold set at $ 180 million, the limit will be about $ 20 million higher than it would otherwise have been. That $ 20 million will have to be “loaned” at future limits, and how that will happen depends on negotiations between the league and the union.
For example, if the earnings forecasts give a salary cap of $ 220 million in 2022 and another $ 230 million in 2023, the NFL and NFLPA could agree to reduce those numbers by $ 10 million in each of those years every $ 20 mismatch. Million in 2021.
The final figure for the salary cap for 2021 may take some time as the NFL continues to negotiate new contracts with television networks. These contracts would affect profit forecasts and could lead to the league expanding the regular season to 17 games next season.
However, a source close to those negotiations said the outcome of the negotiations will, in the best-case scenario, not raise the 2021 salary cap to more than $ 185 million.
Teams can transfer available space at the salary cap of previous years, so that any available space teams below the $ 198.2 million cap in 2020 can be applied to the 2021 cap.
The total attendance in the last regular season was 1.2 million, down from 17 million in 2019. Thirteen teams did not allow fans in their regular season matches and other clubs limited the number of people to comply with social distance and health. – and safety rules in their country.
AP contributed to this report.