NEWSLETTER
The official salary cap number won’t be revealed until the start of the league year in March, but early indications suggest teams could have as much as $11 million more to spend than they did this season.
Indeed, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that teams were given a salary cap outlook for 2018 during the league’s meetings in Irving, Texas, and the projected increase could land between $174.2 and $178.1 million, which represents a sizable increase from the $167 million it was for the 2017 season.
Of course, the salary cap has been steadily rising since 2012, according to Mike Jones of USA Today. There have been increases of at least $10 million in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. And for what it’s worth, Over The Cap projects the Bears to have $47,936,328 in cap space next year – which isn’t pocket change, by any stretch, as it stands as the league’s 12th highest number.
However, Chicago could get a literal run for its money from NFC North rivals in Minnesota, Detroit, and Green Bay. The Vikings’ $57,594,809 cap space number falls just outside the top-5, while the Lions’ $54,268,605 is the league’s ninth highest number. Meanwhile, the Packers aren’t too far off from the Bears with a cap space number at $42,363,091.
Perhaps a bidding war for free agent wide receiver Davante Adams (who would look awfully good in blue and orange) between the two NFC North rivals is on the horizon.
If you’ll recall, the Chicago Bears were one of the teams with a ton of cap space entering the 2017 free agency period. Last year, the Bears’ number was the highest in the NFC North and eighth highest overall. Things are expected to change between now and March, with the possibility of the Bears saving cap room by cutting the likes of quarterback Mike Glennon ($11.5 million projected cap gain), right tackle Bobby Massie ($5.6 million), cornerback Marcus Cooper ($4.5 million), and linebacker Jerrell Freeman ($3.5 million) among others.
According to the calculations done by Over The Cap, the San Francisco 49ers are expected to have the most cap space ($116.669,127). The Niners are then followed by the Cleveland Browns ($111,569,592), Indianapolis Colts ($85,802,477), New York Jets ($81,262,764), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($68,266,220), rounding out the top five.
