The NFL officially set the salary cap at $301.2 million for the 2026 league year, marking the first time that the league has had a cap above $300 million. We have updated all of our cap figures to account for the official salary cap change. All of our cap estimates include carryover from the 2025 league year and estimated adjustments for each team. All of the tenders have also been updated.
On a percentage basis the 7.88% growth ranks 13th all time and this would be considered slightly above the historical averages in the NFL. This is probably going to be around what the cap increases by every year moving forward until a new TV contract is signed with the league expanding to 18 weeks. Here is the historical growth rate for every year that the salary cap has been in effect.
| Year | SalaryCap | Growth |
| 1998 | $52,388,000 | 26.38% |
| 2006 | $102,000,000 | 19.30% |
| 2022 | $208,200,000 | 14.08% |
| 2024 | $255,400,000 | 13.61% |
| 1996 | $40,753,000 | 9.85% |
| 1999 | $57,288,000 | 9.35% |
| 2025 | $279,200,000 | 9.32% |
| 2000 | $62,172,000 | 8.53% |
| 2001 | $67,405,000 | 8.42% |
| 2016 | $155,270,000 | 8.37% |
| 2014 | $133,000,000 | 8.13% |
| 2023 | $224,800,000 | 7.97% |
| 2026 | $301,200,000 | 7.88% |
| 2015 | $143,280,000 | 7.73% |
| 2017 | $167,000,000 | 7.55% |
| 2004 | $80,582,000 | 7.43% |
| 1995 | $37,100,000 | 7.20% |
| 2007 | $109,000,000 | 6.86% |
| 2008 | $116,000,000 | 6.42% |
| 2019 | $188,200,000 | 6.21% |
| 2018 | $177,200,000 | 6.11% |
| 2005 | $85,500,000 | 6.10% |
| 2009 | $123,000,000 | 6.03% |
| 2003 | $75,007,000 | 5.49% |
| 2002 | $71,101,000 | 5.48% |
| 2020 | $198,200,000 | 5.31% |
| 2013 | $123,000,000 | 1.99% |
| 1997 | $41,454,000 | 1.72% |
| 2012 | $120,600,000 | 0.19% |
| 2011 | $120,375,000 | -2.13% |
| 2021 | $182,500,000 | -7.92% |