When reports emerged that NFL owners were informed that the salary cap could exceed $153 million in 2016, the reasonable conclusion was this: It’s way too low.
The league had a habit in recent years of under-projecting the spike in the salary cap, a practice with which the NFL Players Association previously disagreed.
And for good reason. With the official numbers not coming until late February, teams had a habit of using the lowballed estimates when negotiating new deals with pending free agents.
Per a source with knowledge of the NFLPA’s thinking, the early projections provided to the teams by the NFL this year “seem right.”
Again, the final numbers won’t be known until February. For now, though, it appears that the estimate can be trusted by agents who will be trying to get players signed to new contracts before they hit free agency -- and while they still carry the injury risk for a few more weeks.
