SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – This NFL offseason, Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen was a victim of his team not having the money to pay him. They offered to keep him for a decreased salary, but Allen was against this and decided to leave. Allen has been one of the top receivers for the Chargers in recent years, resulting in his departure being a major loss.
All of this occurred because of the NFL’s salary cap. The salary cap is an amount of money the league gives each team in order to restructure their rosters. This year, the salary cap value is set at $255.4 million meaning the NFL is giving each team that figure to spend on new players.
According to Pro Football Focus, this money comes from NFL revenue that is split so players receive 49% for their salary and benefits, and owners receive 51% to pay staff and associated costs. The NFL’s revenue comes from several different places including media deals, merchandising deals, ticket sales and corporate sponsors.
Teams are however, allowed to carry over cap money from the previous year. Pro Football Focus salary cap analyst Brad Spielberger says that there are rules, however, on how much money is allowed to be carried over.
“You have to spend at least 90% of the cumulative cap,” he explained.
Teams are also in no way allowed to go over the cap. Spielberger says that there are no ways around this rule.
“You’re in a freeze, you can’t do anything else, you can’t make any moves, you can’t add any players. So the easiest way to answer is that you can’t. You can not be over the cap.”
The salary cap started in 1994, limiting teams to spend no more than 64% of their revenue on player salaries. Today, the salary cap is the highest it’s ever been.