That is lower than had been anticipated. The expectation would be at $187.5m or $190m.
That means that as of this moment, there is only about $500m in free cap space that all the free agents are going to be chasing after.
This free agency class is missing out on $880m of additional free cap space had the cap ended up at $210m which was anticipated pre-COVID.
9 teams are currently over the cap and will need to make cuts to even sign their draft picks.
Another 3 teams are under the cap but don't have enough to sign their draft picks, spots 52 & 53 on roster and practice squad. They will need to make cuts to do so.
Another 4 teams have enough to sign everyone with just a bit left over to perhaps sign an RFA/ERFA tag or three.
And another 5 teams have between $15m and $22m in free cap space to sign veteran free agents meaning 1.5 quality guys or 3-5 tier 2 veteran free agents.
In the end, there are only 11 teams in the league with sufficient free cap space ($25m+ ) to be real "players" in free agency this season.
JAX = $64m (But who wants to play for that disfunction?)
NE = $64m (So it was all Brady?)
NYJ = $63m (East coast big city disfunction)
IND = $42m (Only AFC playoff team on the list)
CIN = $38m (Up and coming?)
WAS = $33m (Only NFC playoff team on the list)
LVR = $27m (Desert disfunction)
MIA = $26m (Almost Caribbean disfunction)
DEN = $26m (Rocky mountain disfunction)
HOU = $25m (Gosh, I wish BOB was still in charge)
LAC = $25m (West coast disfunction)
Good golly! 10 AFC teams and only 1 NFC team on that list. I wonder which conference all the free agents are heading to?
Of course, teams can start resorting to using the type of deals only congress can make but in the NFL, you actually have to pay back the debt and that can really screw you going forward.
It is seriously a good off season to have your team's GM be a frugal bastard.
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