Ten NFL teams are currently falling shy of minimum cash spending requirements agreed upon in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement.
The CBA calls for teams to spend 89 percent of the salary cap in cash over the span of four seasons. The current four-year period spans from 2013-16 with another four-year span from 2017-2020 spanning the remainder of the CBA.
According to Tom Pelissero of the USA Today, nearly a third of the league is currently falling short of that 89 percent minimum threshold through the first two years of the current four-year span. Per numbers calculated by the NFL Players Association earlier this month, the Oakland Raiders are the most flagrant team in terms of underspending. They have spent just 80.2 percent of the salary cap over the last two years.
Also falling short are the Carolina Panthers (80.8 percent), New York Jets (81.16), Jacksonville Jaguars (82.2), Dallas Cowboys (82.6), New England Patriots (82.7), New Orleans Saints (86.2), Washington Redskins (87), New York Giants (87.9) and Pittsburgh Steelers (88.3).
The five lowest spending teams (Raiders, Panthers, Jets, Jaguars and Patriots) will have to ramp up their spending significantly over the next two years to meet the minimum requirements. With the salary cap expected to jump approximately $8-10 million in each of the next two years, the teams will have a ton of flexibility from a cash standpoint to spend over that span.
The Saints situation is somewhat troublesome. New Orleans currently sits more than $20 million over the expected salary cap for the 2015 season. Not only do they have to cut their cap commitments to get under the line by the start of the league year on March 10, they also have to find a way to increase their cash spending as well over the next two years to meet the threshold.
If teams don’t meet the 89 percent threshold in salaries over the four-year period, the difference must be paid to the NFLPA, which can dispense the money as they see fit.