The 2014 NFL team salary cap numbers have jumped around and now space is getting taken up as players start signing contract and a number of teams have put together some massive deals, including the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and many more will continue to spend.
The Oakland Raiders have added some players after losing Jared Veldheer and Lamarr Houston, while the NY Giants have started off well with two signings early, including Rashad Jennings, as well as pickups at linebacker and on the offensive line and now they have added back Jon Beason as well. The bears brought in Lamarr Houston on a deal after losing out on Michael Bennett, while the Broncos signed Aqib Talib, TJ Ward and DeMarcus Ware and they look ready to repeat as AFC champs.
The Raiders came in with the most cap space of anyone and they should be able to clean up after taking down their team over the past few years and getting rid of bad deals and contracts. The team has $60 million in cap space and that makes them big players in free agency, while the Jacksonville Jaguars are next and they have over $50 million to spend. The Browns have over $45 million to work with, while the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins come up next.
The NFL offseason is in full swing and the salary cap space for 2014 is a prime concern for teams and here is a list and look of the total space and financial situations now that free agency has started and some of these will be updated as the day goes on after free agency officially began on Tuesday, March 11.
The free agent period is always filled with some drama and this year there are plenty of teams that could spend a chunk of cash at the start, including the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars, as they have some of the biggest totals in cap space heading into the offseason. Names like Hakeem Nicks, Eric Decker and Knowshon Moreno are some of the top players on the market and vets like Sidney Rice, Champ Bailey and Michael Vick are looking for new teams as well.
The cap already went up for everyone this season and now it's $130 million and that gives some flexibility to teams looking to make deals. The NFC East teams in the Redskins and Cowboys got some relief finally after their penalties were imposed from a couple years ago and now ESPN.com reports that the cap could go up to $150 million eventually over the next few years. The report says that it could eventually get that high in 2016 and this follows a track that the NFL has had over the past few years and according the report, the cap is "calculated by taking a percentage of all projected NFL revenues, subtracting projected benefits for the season, and dividing by 32 teams."
Click here for totals from Sportrac.com for updated cap numbers.
Check here for the full list of cap space for teams and more on cap and free agency coverage from ESPN.