As the season draws closer and closer to the end I’ve been getting more and more questions about cap room for next year and why some of my twitter replies dont match the website. So since we are getting close to the end of the year I figured to help lessen those questions I would begin to add the adjustments to the 2018 salary cap space charts to give everyone a more realistic picture of where teams will be next year. 

Please note that these adjustments do not include any estimates for incentives or other items that are earned after the year. These are also not dynamic such that a player cut today will impact the numbers for next year. Simply thinking of them as a point in time adjustment that will continue to change between now and March. Ill make carryover adjustments every week or two from here on out but they should not change too much unless a real late extension occurs. As the season comes to a close Ill also add some additional estimates for cap credits earned for incentives not earned.

We are also using a $178 million salary cap estimate. This estimate is just based on recent cap growth and the number could be a few million higher or lower. The league doesnt set that for awhile and well keep it at $178M until there is reasonable reporting to change the estimate.

When you read the cap space charts remember that teams with less than 51 players right now will see their space decrease significantly between now and March. Almost every team carries 51 players before free agency (the Ravens are the only consistent exception I can think of) so at the very least a teams cap room will be decreased by the following formula:

(51-current # players) x $480,000

In most cases it will be less as RFA tags are announced and futures contracts are signed for more than the minimum. So if you want to really know your teams effective cap space you should at least make a 51 man adjustment and even moreso to look at upcoming free agents that are restricted and/or exclusive rights and add the tenders in for them. Just as a reminder you can use our salary cap calculators for your favorite team to do just that, These cap calculators are really the most unique thing around and well be updating in the coming weeks to make sure that the free agents have the correct designations.

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