After the dust settles on record contracts extensions, contract restructures and dead money, the last trickles of NFL free agency leave general managers with one of the major jobs: tally their final salary cap ledgers for the 2026 season.
This offseason featured explosive transactions. Miles Garrett and Trent McDuffie are with the Rams, DJ Moore is in Buffalo, Jaylen Waddle was shipped to Denver and the Giants traded for Dexter Lawrence II. All have reshaped the league and their teams’ finances. Here’s a look at each of the NFL’s 32 teams’ available salary cap space.
Don’t forget: You can watch NFL football all season long and see just how level of a playing field the salary cap creates on DIRECTV.
What is the NFL Salary Cap?
The NFL salary cap is a limit on how much each team can pay the players on its roster in a season. The collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) mandates a revenue sharing split. Typically, that split leans slightly in favor of ownership.
How Does the NFL Salary Cap Work?
The NFL first implemented its salary cap in 1994 after the NFLPA successfully sued the league to begin unrestricted free agency. The Player’s Association agreed to a salary cap in concession.
In 1994, the cap was set at $34.3M. Heading into the 2026 season the salary cap for each team is $301.2M.
Teams can’t be over the cap when a new league year starts in March, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get creative.
There are ways teams can move money around or classify spend to hit that number, like a contract restructure or signing bonus. Teams can roll over unused cap from one year to the next. But every team must spend at least 89% of the cap over a four-year period.
Only player salaries, not those of a team’s coaching staff, count towards the cap. Here’s how it essentially breaks down.
- Cap space – The amount teams can spend on player contracts under the salary cap.
- Active Player Cap – The amount of the salary cap committed to players on their team’s 53-man active roster.
- Dead Money – The salaries of players who have left the team but are still under contract also count toward the cap.
- Total Cap Allocations – The amount a team has committed toward the salary cap including active player cap, dead money and, while not included below players on injured reserve or suspensed.
There’s a lot more that goes into the salary cap and salary cap management in the NFL, but these are the basics when it comes to player compensation.
Salary Cap Space by NFL Team in 2026
This offseason was marked by high profile trades and free agent signings that have forced team accounts to re-work their payroll for the 2026 season.
Here are the teams in order of available cap room heading into the season.
| Rank | Team | Cap Space (Top-51) | Total Cap Allocations | Active Player Cap | Dead Money |
| 1 | San Francisco 49ers | $65,438,127 | $317,442,397 | $279,711,323 | $36,281,074 |
| 2 | Tennessee Titans | $53,461,045 | $328,426,933 | $299,357,368 | $28,184,565 |
| 3 | Washington Commanders | $43,913,241 | $323,517,385 | $301,939,654 | $20,692,731 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Chargers | $41,199,649 | $300,954,836 | $294,479,986 | $5,589,850 |
| 5 | New England Patriots | $37,669,831 | $354,014,423 | $311,074,959 | $38,489,464 |
| 6 | Arizona Cardinals | $34,871,111 | $331,995,053 | $257,775,900 | $73,320,820 |
| 7 | Indianapolis Colts | $31,996,674 | $307,763,956 | $291,230,312 | $15,648,644 |
| 8 | Denver Broncos | $30,138,906 | $312,406,564 | $307,844,072 | $3,513,922 |
| 9 | Atlanta Falcons | $28,475,248 | $316,252,269 | $270,607,208 | $43,925,061 |
| 10 | New York Jets | $28,420,310 | $334,898,490 | $221,679,788 | $111,278,702 |
| 11 | Houston Texans | $28,104,831 | $318,749,528 | $252,176,154 | $66,573,374 |
| 12 | Philadelphia Eagles | $26,055,567 | $329,943,013 | $254,701,803 | $73,811,088 |
| 13 | Seattle Seahawks | $25,685,899 | $326,457,363 | $325,055,306 | $517,057 |
| 14 | Las Vegas Raiders | $24,051,272 | $327,352,439 | $269,567,053 | $55,808,720 |
| 15 | Green Bay Packers | $23,696,123 | $328,257,808 | $281,840,532 | $45,532,276 |
| 16 | Los Angeles Rams | $20,934,500 | $323,948,623 | $312,634,938 | $10,798,685 |
| 17 | Cleveland Browns | $20,224,471 | $361,352,478 | $238,913,987 | $116,780,744 |
| 18 | Baltimore Ravens | $17,624,461 | $333,101,681 | $313,887,966 | $18,208,715 |
| 19 | Cincinnati Bengals | $16,887,687 | $339,956,226 | $329,539,481 | $10,416,745 |
| 20 | Detroit Lions | $15,353,206 | $345,471,427 | $310,727,220 | $33,131,673 |
| 21 | Minnesota Vikings | $13,783,657 | $337,511,640 | $291,299,400 | $45,322,240 |
| 22 | Miami Dolphins | $12,057,648 | $334,555,795 | $154,776,541 | $179,214,254 |
| 23 | New York Giants | $10,485,220 | $330,320,122 | $300,790,374 | $26,855,582 |
| 24 | Buffalo Bills | $10,048,136 | $330,238,365 | $282,521,396 | $46,216,380 |
| 25 | Carolina Panthers | $9,296,910 | $341,387,761 | $318,362,584 | $22,140,177 |
| 26 | Chicago Bears | $9,045,559 | $338,431,124 | $317,016,826 | $20,152,323 |
| 27 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | $8,651,627 | $346,044,747 | $331,817,493 | $13,332,254 |
| 28 | Jacksonville Jaguars | $8,487,992 | $338,895,798 | $283,314,924 | $54,695,874 |
| 29 | Pittsburgh Steelers | $5,995,068 | $352,555,004 | $338,907,058 | $12,247,946 |
| 30 | New Orleans Saints | $5,233,472 | $352,184,291 | $235,694,837 | $114,128,883 |
| 31 | Dallas Cowboys | $5,114,992 | $366,973,079 | $322,377,923 | $42,447,656 |
| 32 | Kansas City Chiefs | $4,544,981 | $332,920,768 | $321,905,727 | $10,010,041 |
Source: Spotrac
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Frequently asked questions
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