Five teams that benefit from NFL's $30 million salary-cap spike

The NFL has announced the salary cap for the 2024 season will be a record $255.4 million, marking a 13.6 percent increase from the $224.8M figure of the 2023 season. 

With the new adjusted figure, seven teams — the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints — are still over the cap with work to do to clear the necessary funds to become cap compliant.

With a little over three weeks until free agency begins, here are five teams that benefit the most from the NFL’s $30.6M cap jump (listed alphabetically):

Cincinnati Bengals, current 2024 salary-cap space: $72.8M

With a little more than $10M extra in their bank account, the Bengals are in a much better position to keep star receiver Tee Higgins than they were 24 hours before. This means there’s a better chance the team can sign Higgins to a long-term extension as opposed to simply franchise-tagging him this season.

Cincy also has more ammunition to bolster its offensive line and better protect quarterback Joe Burrow, as well as means to add some more pieces to the defense to better compete against Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

Denver Broncos, current 2024 salary-cap space: -$10.7M

It may seem crazy to include the Broncos given they’re still over the cap, but hear me out. Denver began Friday morning close to $30M over the cap and in just a few short hours had nearly $20M shaved off of that.

By converting a player’s salary into a bonus, perhaps a contract restructure or two and cutting some high-priced veterans like guard Garrett Bolles ($16M cap hit), safety Justin Simmons ($14.5M), receiver Tim Patrick ($9M) or defensive tackle D.J. Jones ($9.9M), the Broncos can create some breathing room to sign a few free agents plus their draft class.

Kansas City Chiefs, current 2024 salary-cap space: $27.7M (18th-most)

The Chiefs went from scrambling to find a way to retain both defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed with just $15.5M, to now having $27.7M and a good chance at keeping both. Jones is a top-five defensive tackle and will likely get paid as such. Sneed had a breakout 2023 season and will get a healthy raise from the $2.9M he made in 2023.

San Francisco 49ers, current 2024 salary-cap space: $834,165 (25th-most)

In addition to carrying over approximately $38M in unused cap space from 2023, the 49ers are now in a better financial situation than they started the day with. And if they sign receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a long-term extension, as is their goal, this will help them create more wiggle room with the cap.

Per The Athletic’s David Lombardi, San Francisco is expected to have roughly $7.5M to fill the final 12 spots on its 53-man roster before doing any restructures or salary conversions. Many have stated the 49ers are playing with fire giving out expensive extensions to George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel and others, but they probably have another two years of operating in such a way and building a super team around quarterback Brock Purdy, who’s playing on a rookie deal through 2025.

Washington Commanders, current 2024 salary-cap space: $87.05M (most in NFL)

The Commanders were already in a good financial position before the league announced the 2024 cap number, but now they have more money to spend than any other team, which is a blessing considering the number of roster holes they have to address.

Washington is expected to draft its quarterback of the future in April and the team has the funds available to make a run at some of the top available offensive linemen like Tyron Smith, Andrus Peat, Trent Brown, Evan Brown and Connor Williams, or give their new QB a solid running back. Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Saquon Barkley, Austin Ekeler, D’Andre Swift and Derrick Henry are all expected to be on the market.