NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL’s salary cap will jump $11 million next season to $188.2 million.
In the ninth year of the 10-year labor agreement, the cap moves up from $177.2 million. It has increased in every year of the contract, with the biggest move in 2015 to 2016, when it went up by just under $12 million.
This is the third year out of four in which clubs must reach 89 percent in cash spending, and the NFL Players Association said Friday that four teams are under that threshold: Dallas, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Houston.
League expenditures for benefits are $40.5 million per team. Add that to the salary cap number and each club’s player costs are above $228 million. Benefits includes pension payments to former players; the Bell/Rozelle retirement and disability plan for active players; annuities and 401 (k) plans; health care; injury protection and severance; veteran performance-based pay; a separate pool of performance-based pay that’s essentially a cash bonus to players who outperform their contracts.