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Heading into the 2021 offseason, there was great uncertainty about where the 2021 salary cap would ultimately land. Apparently there will be less uncertainty next offseason.
Per ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano (and other sources), the league and the Player’s Association have agreed to set the ceiling on the 2022 salary cap at $208.2M.
Per source, the NFL and the NFLPA have agreed to a salary cap ceiling of $208.2 million for the 2022 season. If it gets there, that would be a 14 percent increase over the 2021 cap of $182.5 million. (more)
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) May 26, 2021
While it’s not a given that the cap will increase to that amount, the “ceiling” represents an increase of nearly $26M over where the 2021 salary cap landed ($182.5M). This year’s salary cap was obviously impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
As Nick Shook points out in his article on the NFL’s website:
“While this might seem irrelevant to those solely focused on 2021, it’s highly important for front offices and player agents as they understand how each side can go about working on long-term deals and planning well beyond 2021.”
What will this news mean for our beloved Seahawks? Only time will tell. But it does provide at least some certainty about the future - and helps “justify” the use of void years in some of the 2021 contracts.