A quick look ahead at the coming 2021 Capocalypse

[Ring 6]

Now will FA's and their agents recognize the new reality. Coming up next on NFL offseason.

Probably a lot of one year deals for the mid range guys.

 

[Boomer B]

It looks like they are negotiating to have the cap no lower then $175m and possibly much higher. Not great news for the Pats.

Optimism emerges regarding 2021 salary cap

The negotiations that allowed the 2020 season to proceed included a commitment that the 2021 salary cap will be no lower than $175 million per team.

profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

 

[Tony2046]

The Eagles situation is very strange. What happens if they can't get under the cap with cuts, and none of the players will agree to a restructure? The team has no way to actually become compliant... what happens then? I'll have to do some googling...

If teams in general are not bailed out, NE is in an extremely advantageous position to scoop up scheduled FAs on the market and also veteran players who are dumped as cap casualties by other teams (there will be many). If teams are bailed out, NE has a smaller advantage but will still have one - they'll have a huge amount of money available while many other teams may only be able to swing a couple moves.

Interesting question. I found a reddit thread talking about the implications for a team being over the cap.



"The cap is calculated each year and it’s a hard cap, meaning you can’t be over it at the start of the league year or any point after. Teams who are over need to release players to get under before the league year starts, or else the league will start voiding contracts starting with the most recently signed until you’re under. After the league year starts, they won’t process contracts that would put you over."

 

[Rob0729]

This is why I wanted the Pats to tank it and get a top QB in the draft. The Pats are in excellent cap position in 2021 compared to the rest of the league. A lot of teams are going to be forced to drop some good to great talent with several years left in them at top form. The Pats could easily reload next offseason for the next 2-3 years at least and potentially have a franchise QB starting by at least 2022 if not 2021.

 

[Rob0729]

There is a good chance the following players will retire:
Cannon
Hightower
Edelman
Chung

If these four retire, it will give the Pats almost another $20-22 million in cap space making them $60-62 million under the cap.

None of them are playing right now. So the loss to the team is minimal, but the cap space could be great especially if teams release quality players to get under the cap.