NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports

NFL salary cap skyrockets with unprecedented increase

By Aaron Becker | Last updated 2/23/24

The NFL's 32 teams received some great news on Friday when the league announced the salary cap is increasing by an unprecedented amount.

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the NFL is raising the salary cap from $224.8 million in 2023 to $255.4 million in 2024.

"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 the clubs and deferred by the players during the Covid pandemic as well as an extraordinary increase in media revenue for the 2024 season," the NFL said in a statement.

There will also be an additional $74 million per club payment for player benefits, which includes performance-based pay and benefits for retired players.

It marks the third straight year that the salary cap has increased since it dipped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has officially more than doubled since 2011.

NFL salary cap by year in the revenue-sharing era:

2011: $120.375M
2012: $120.6M
2013: $123M
2014: $133M
2015: $143.28M
2016: $155.27M
2017: $167M
2018: $177.2M
2019: $188.2M
2020: $198.2M
2021: $182.5M*
2022: $208.2M
2023: $224.8M
2024: $255.4M

Business is booming.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 23, 2024

Several teams who were projected to be over the salary cap or just under it now have significant relief with free agency just a few weeks away. The start of the new league year begins on March 13 at 4 p.m. ET.

Fans should expect teams to be more active than ever following the newly set salary cap, setting up a very exciting new couple of months and a much-anticipated 2024 season.

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