The NFL is a billion-dollar business, and when it comes to player salaries, business is as Antonio Brown would say boomin’.
Via numbers published by the NFL Players Association, the average per-team cash expenditure for the four-year period covering 2013 through 2016 was $544.9 million. That’s a total of $17.4 billion in four years, or an average of $4.35 billion per year.
According to the NFLPA, all teams have complied with the requirement that at least 89 percent of the total salary cap be spent in cash, with the exception of the Raiders. But with a minimum expenditure of $493.549 million and the Raiders at $491.433 million, they only need to spend $2.116 million -- before the end of the league year in March.
Which is basically nothing. But that hasn’t stopped some from freaking out about the prospect of the Raiders being penalized for failing to comply. Comply they will, with ease.
Only one other team is under $500 million, the Panthers with $495.149 million. The Eagles are the only team above $600 million in the four-year period, with $613.928 million in actual cash expenditures.