CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported that the National Football League increased the salary cap for the 2024 season to $255.4 million. It’s a $30.6 million increase from last season’s salary cap of $224.8 million, the most significant increase in terms of money since free agency started.

It’s also a substantial increase from the previously projected salary cap around the low $240 million range. The league announced the cap in time for the annual NFL Combine, wherein agents have time to meet their veteran clients.

The significant rise of the salary cap allows teams to spend more in free agency and keep more of their key players whose contracts will expire once the 2024 league year starts on March 13 at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

It also allows NFL franchises to use the franchise tag more. Teams have until March 5 to designate a player for the tag, a one-year guaranteed salary based on the average of the top five cap hits for every position.

The NFL shared in a statement about the 2024 salary cap announcement:

”The unprecedented $30 million increase per club in this year's salary cap is the result of the full repayment of all amounts advanced by clubs and deferred by the players during the COVID pandemic as well as an extraordinary increase in media revenue for the 2024 season.”

The $30.6 million cap increase represents the NFL’s growth after the COVID-19 pandemic. The cap was $198.2 million in 2020 and $182.5 million the following year. However, the league signed off new broadcast deals worth above $110 million in 2021. They also earn billions from streaming platforms and partnerships with sportsbooks.

The effect of those revenue-generating streams started to take effect in 2022 when the cap rose to $208.2 million. The following year, the value increased by $16.6 million.

With a higher cap value than earlier estimates, the Washington Commanders now have a league-leading $87 million cap space. The New England Patriots are second at $82.9 million, while the Chicago Bears are third at $80.3 million. Conversely, the Miami Dolphins (-$38.4 million), New Orleans Saints (-$40.071 million), and Buffalo Bills (-$41.7 million) have the most enormous deficits.

-Lance Fernandez