Report: NFL salary cap to increase to record $224.8 million for 2023 season

NFL Insider Tom Pellisero reported on Monday that the league has notified franchises that the salary cap will jump to a record $224.8 million for the 2023 season. That marks a significant jump from this season’s cap of $208.2 million. This is big news as team’s continue to map out their offseason plans knowing they’ll have a larger money pool to work with.

According to Spotrac, the league average for cap space is roughly $5.5 million with plenty of teams flushed with cap space while plenty of teams will have to do some belt tightening. The Chicago Bears will have the most cap space of any team at $98.6 million and that combined with possessing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft should allow for them to facilitate offseason moves that will speed up their rebuild. Other teams that will have over $30 million in cap space includes the Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants, New England Patriots, Houston Texans, and Seattle Seahawks.

The two franchises with the most unenviable salary cap situations reside in the NFC South as the New Orleans Saints will enter the offseason at $57.3 million over the cap while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sit at $55.7 million. Both teams have made moves in recent years to maximize their chances at competing immediately and now may finally come time to pay the piper. That especially holds true for the Buccaneers, who could be losing a number of free agents including quarterback Tom Brady this offseason.