NFL sets 2025 salary cap at a record-high $279.2 million per team

| 2016 World University American Football Championships - Monterrey | 02/28/2025

The $23.8 million increase from 2024 is the third-largest in league history

By Ian Casselberry

The NFL salary cap for each of its 32 teams is going up for the 2025 season — way up.

Each team will have a cap of $279.2 million, according to the NFL. That will be an increase of approximately $24 million from 2024’s $255.4 million figure and is the highest cap in the league’s history.

The $23.8 million increase (8.5%) is the third-largest since the NFL implemented its salary cap in 1994. From 2023 to 2024, the cap increased by $30.6 million (11.98%). And the cap went up by $25.7 million (12.3%) from 2021 to 2022.

Every year, the salary cap is determined by a formula based on league revenues that is collectively bargained between the NFL and the NFL Players Association. The league sent a memo to each team last week projecting that the 2025 cap would be between $277.5 million to $281.5 million, and the two sides essentially landed in the middle.

It seems safe to assume that the salary cap would increase every year, based on the NFL’s success and increasing revenues — especially with new media rights deals with platforms such as Netflix. That has been the case other than in 2021, when the cap dropped from $198.2 million to $182.5 million during the COVID pandemic, when fans weren’t allowed to attend games in most stadiums.

Based on the new figures, the New England Patriots go into the 2025 offseason with the most salary-cap space, at $128.1 million, according to Spotrac. Seven teams are currently over the cap, led by the New Orleans Saints at $56.8 million beyond the limit.