The NFL announced the official salary cap number for the 2024 season, and let’s just say business is booming.
The $255.4 million figure is a $30.6 million increase from the previous $224.8 million record set in 2023. The bump represents the most significant year-to-year increase in total money in free agency history.
Per NFL communications, there’s “an additional $74 million per club payment for player benefits, which includes performance-based pay and benefits for retired players. Total 2024 player costs will be $329.4 million per club or more than $10.5 billion league-wide.
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 Pittsburgh Steelers and 31 other clubs were budgeting for a cap in the low-to-mid $240s as recently as last week, as they generally lean on the conservative end of projections to be on the safe side.
According to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, the Steelers were close to being cap-complaint with the recent releases of Mitch Trubisky and Chuks Okorafor. The cap bump “more than solves that problem.”
NFL said 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… https://t.co/K5YlJV48DK
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 23, 2024
