Unlike previous years, the NFL’s salary cap is contracting instead of expanding in 2021 due to the lack of fans in stadiums and the decline of food and merchandise sales during the 2020 season, which was played during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, the cap is projected to drop from $198 million to $180 million based on a league memo last week, and that loss of cap space means dozens of teams will be forced to tighten their purse strings, and release or restructure players’ contracts — even more than they usually do at this time of year.