August 18, 2013 NFL Salary Cap Update: Here are the latest NFL salary cap space figures for all clubs throughout the league courtesy of the NFLPA’s Top 51 League Cap Report website.

Official Salary Cap Space – 8/18/2013

CAP SPACE RANKTEAMPREVIOUS YEAR CARRYOVERTOTAL CAP SPACE
17Arizona$3,600,110.00$6,603,058.00
14Atlanta$307,540.00$7,469,186.00
20Baltimore$1,182,377.00$5,529,459.00
3Buffalo$9,817,628.00$21,910,064.00
7Carolina$3,654,825.00$13,803,380.00
29Chicago$3,236,965.00$922,767.00
5Cincinnati$8,579,575.00$17,091,631.00
1Cleveland$14,339,575.00$26,645,339.00
12Dallas$2,335,379.00$8,480,326.00
11Denver$11,537,924.00$10,249,438.00
22Detroit$466,992.00$5,013,453.00
8Green Bay$7,010,832.00$13,416,330.00
30Houston$2,422,689.00$763,445.00
18Indianapolis$3,500,000.00$6,566,134.00
2Jacksonville$19,563,231.00$22,691,605.00
32Kansas City$14,079,650.00$7,492.00
6Miami$5,380,246.00$16,187,685.00
24Minnesota$8,004,734.00$4,292,090.00
10New England$5,607,914.00$10,394,769.00
21New Orleans$2,700,000.00$5,173,260.00
27NY Giants$1,000,000.00$2,650,728.00
16NY Jets$3,400,000.00$6,676,562.00
19Oakland$4,504,761.00$5,976,452.00
4Philadelphia$23,046,035.00$19,341,101.00
23Pittsburgh$758,811.00$4,352,684.00
25San Diego$995,893.00$3,110,725.00
15San Francisco$859,734.00$7,116,765.00
26Seattle$13,265,802.00$3,090,007.00
31St. Louis$247,347.00$113,676.00
9Tampa Bay$8,527,866.00$11,588,471.00
13Tennessee$12,867,893.00$8,338,238.00
28Washington$4,270,296.00$1,338,440.00

If you would like to compare the figures listed to today to those which I posted two weeks ago for each club on Sunday, August 4th, then simply click HERE to do so. After you do that, take a look at the teams in the NFC East. The Giants have $2,650,728 in cap room as of now, making them one of the “almost running on empty teams” that I listed below. The Eagles (ranking 4th in the league) and Cowboys (ranked 12th) are in solid shape to start the regular season, while the Giants (who are ranked 27th) are on the border of having to make some financial moves to be able to have some breathing room under the cap. The Redskins (who rank 28th) definitely have to make a move or two with respect to the restructuring a contract or two in order to be able to operate in the regular season as well once the Top 51 Rule expires 18 days from now on Thursday, September 5th at 12:00 am New York time.

To make an automotive parallel, generally speaking, teams with less than $3 million worth of cap room are basically almost running on empty. Right now, according to this list, there are six clubs who fit into this category: the Giants, Redskins, Bears, Texans, Rams, & Chiefs. These six clubs, and possibly two of the clubs slightly ahead of them (the Seahawks & Chargers), will have to make some extra room under the cap in order to cover regular season operational expenses which are not included now, but will be factored in to the salary cap equation once the Top 51 rule expires in slightly less than 18 days. These factors include the following:

  • cap room for players on Injured Reserve.
  • players who have received Injury Settlements.
  • additional dead money as the result of players who are cut to reach the 53-man roster limit.
  • the 8 players on the Practice Squad ($6,000 a week x 17 weeks x 8 players At MINIMUM).
  • and of course all 53 players on the 53-man roster; right now only the top 51 players on the roster count (this will add two extra salaries to the equation).

Keep in mind that the roster moves that teams make going forward when the upcoming rounds of player cuts take place – the cut-down to 75 on August 27th, and the final cut-down to the final 53 on August 31st – will also factor in each individual club’s cap situation. If say for example the Chiefs, who have the least amount of cap space in the league, have a player who has a higher cap number than a similarly ranked player, but is better than him, he’ll very likely be the one to get released due to the club’s tight cap situation. Keep your eyes out for situations like this around the league, particularly from the eight clubs mentioned above, as we near the end of training camps and preseason throughout the league in the coming two weeks.