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NFL Rumors: 2023 Salary Cap to Be Record-High $224.8M

Adam Wells

As the NFL continues to rake in money at an astronomical rate, the salary cap is going to hit a record high in 2023.

Per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport, the league has informed all 32 teams that the cap for next season will increase by more than $16 million from 2022 up to $224.8 million.

The annual cap spikes are doing a lot to help teams maintain at least some flexibility as they prepare for the offseason.

Per Spotrac, 17 teams are at least $6.8 million under the 2023 cap right now before they make any roster moves.

The Chicago Bears have the most cap space of any team by far at $98.64 million. The Atlanta Falcons are the only other team with more than $50 million available ($56.4 million).

The Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants, both of whom made the playoffs this season, have roughly $44 million available to spend.

Cincinnati is in a potentially tricky spot this offseason with two key players eligible to sign extensions for the first time.

Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Joe Burrow is expected to sign a deal that surpasses Aaron Rodgers' $50.3 million annual salary. However, Burrow's extension wouldn't kick in until the 2025 season, provided the Bengals exercise the fifth-year option on his rookie deal.

Wide receiver Tee Higgins is also eligible for a new deal. He was a second-round pick in 2020 and doesn't have a fifth-year option, so next season would be his final year under contract if the Bengals don't sign him to an extension.

The Bengals will also have to pay star wideout Ja'Marr Chase when he's eligible for a new deal after the 2023 season. Both wideouts figure to command significant salaries, and it's hard to see how the Bengals afford both given what Burrow is likely to command and still have enough left over to sign players that allow them to remain a top-tier AFC team.

These are good problems to have for a Bengals franchise that wasn't accustomed to being in this position before drafting Burrow in 2020.

The salary cap could spike significantly after next season because the NFL's new television deals with Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, FOX and NBC all go into effect in 2023.

The NFL will make $10 billion annually from those deals. That total doesn't even include Google's $2.5 billion annual deal to bring Sunday Ticket to YouTube TV.

Two weeks away from Super Bowl 57, business is booming in the NFL right now.

   

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