NFL salary cap rises to 188.2 million dollars for 2019 season

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The NFL will raise its salary cap from 177.2 million U.S. dollars to 188.2 million dollar for the 2019 season, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. If that comes true, it will be the sixth straight year for the cap to grow by over 10 million dollars annually.

The new figure was agreed on by both the League and the NFL Players Association after negotiations. The NFL's management council at a meeting with the teams' general managers in December 2018 in Dallas projected the cap to be between 187 million and 191.1 million dollars.

Players of the Indianapolis Colts /VCG Photo

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero owed the rise to the continuously growing revenue of the league. The 188.2 million will not contain player benefits. According to ESPN's Dan Graziano, each team will receive about 40 million dollars for benefit costs. This money will be used to pay for the pensions of retired players, medical insurance, injury protection and the new performance-based pay.

"The total amount allotted per team for performance-based pay is about 7.2 million dollars, and the source said 2.6 million dollars of that would constitute the new 'veteran performance-based pay' allotment-money that would allow teams to reward veteran players (as opposed to rookies) who have outperformed their contracts," wrote Graziano.

Players of the New York Jets in the game /VCG Photo

As the new cap salary is released, the teams have a better idea of how much money they have to upgrade their franchise. According to overthecap.com, there were in total 15 teams that had over 30 million dollars to spend. The Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets had the most at 106 million and 96 million respectively.

The four teams in the conference finals last season had different stories. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams both had over 20 million dollars for improvement. The New England Patriots got 19 million while the New Orleans Saints had only 10 million to spend.

The free agency market will begin on March 13.