NFL Salary cap to Rise

According to an ESPN article posted approximately one hour ago, The NFL salary cap will rise 2 million in the upcoming 2016 season. This is great news for a lot of different fan bases. Mainly some AFC East teams, The Patriots, The Bills, and Dolphins. All of which are ranked in the bottom 10 of NFL teams in terms of cap space. The Patriots could really use the extra two million to resign the young talent on their defense. I do not expect the Patriots to be big players in Free Agency they will grab a good offensive linemen and a cheap between the tackles running back.

The Bills are estimated as the team with the lowest amount of cap space. With this news, the Bills might be in better position to resign some of their talent with expiring contracts. Both the Bills starting left guard, Richie Incognito, and left tackle, Cordy Glenn, are set to hit free agency. An extra two million guarantees at least one of them stays, most likely that will be InCognito. The Fins need a lot of help and being in the bottom 10 teams for cap space will not help. If they can restructure some contracts they will put themselves in a good position to rebuild their roster.

Another team that this will help grandly, is The Baltimore Ravens. They had major major problems on both sides of the ball this season. The offense was terrible, they need a lot on the offensive line and wide receiver core. Maybe with that money they can after Reuben Randle or Mohammed Sanu. They also need a starting left guard and the remaining players to develop or improve their production. They were very good when it came to pass protection, but the team rushing report is not great. The Ravens were in the bottom of the league in rush attempts yards, yards per carry, and touchdowns. They have a good back in Justin Forsett, who had a great year two seasons ago.

The only teams this could hurt would be the Raiders and Jaguars. In the NFL the cap minimum/floor is imposed in 3 year intervals. So teams are obligated to spend 89% of their cap space within the time period of 2013-2016. The Raiders and Jaguars have both been terrible for years and years. If any teams are in jeopardy of not fulfilling the 89% spending obligation it is these two teams.

I would guess that this won't be a problem for them because Godell and the NFL do not have strict regulations upon the salary cap.