Report: NFL sets salary cap for 2022 season

The NFL made their projected salary cap for the 2022 season official on Tuesday, as it informed teams of the new increased cap amount. The NFL’s projected 2022 salary cap is $208.2 million, as per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

NFL’s 2022 salary cap

In some good news for the NFL on a day marred by record numbers of players being impacted by COVID-19, the 2022 season will have a significant increase to the league’s salary cap. The salary cap has increased steadily every season since 2013, before the 2021 cap was dropped by a large amount due to the lack of revenue COVID-19 caused during the 2020 season.

In 2013, the league’s cap was $123 million, and has increased by roughly $10 million each season. The new figure of $208.2 million is in line with what 2021’s increase would have been if not for the renegotiated salary cap following the pandemic-impacted season.

The projected cap increase is the maximum amount agreed upon by the NFL and the NFL Players Association in May of this year. Speculation began after the May negotiations that the 2022 cap number could be lower than the agreed upon maximum if COVID-19 impacted the season. However, no games have been cancelled during the 2021 season and attendance has been up to the NFL’s normal expectations.

The report details that local revenue for teams has nearly returned in full, and that TV contracts were finalized along with the NFL’s expansion to a 17-game season. Adding to the NFL’s growing revenue streams are new expanded playoff format from last season, and the money being made by the NFL’s partnership with online sports betting.

The major drop in cap space for the 2021 season left some high-level free agents with a choice to make regarding new contracts. Some players and teams still signed large deals and extensions in anticipation of the cap returning to normal by 2022. For players that took a shorter deal or a one-year contract to leverage more money with a higher cap, that decision could end up being a good one now.

Increasing the salary cap for 2022 also comes with optimism that the cap will spike too much higher numbers as early as 2023. New TV deals will likely increase the players’ share of revenue as a result of the most recent collective bargaining agreement. The increase in revenue directly will lead to an increase in salary caps, as the cap is partially based on the players’ share of the profits they negotiated in 2020.