As expected, the NFL salary cap will increase significantly once the 2025 league year (and the free agency signing period) begins on Wednesday, March 12, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
But the boost from this past season's $255.4 million figure is even bigger than expected. While many were expecting the 2025 number to be somewhere in the range of $265 million to $275 million, the NFL has informed all 32 teams that next season's number will be between $277.5 million and $281.5 million.
The exact figure has yet to be determined, but owners and general managers now have a better idea of what they'll be working with. While we may not know the precise figure, we do know that the cap has increased by more than $100 million since the 2018 season, when it was set at $177.2 million, which is simply astounding.
So, what does this mean for the Green Bay Packers? Let's take a look.
The Green Bay Packers will have roughly $50 million in salary cap space once the 2025 league year begins
Over the past five years, Green Bay has struggled at times to become cap compliant, thanks in large part to having far too much dead money on the books.
That situation vastly improved a year ago when Aaron Rodgers' massive dead cap hit of more than $40 million disappeared. And things are even better now that David Bahktiari ($18.145 million) and Aaron Jones ($12.348 million) are no longer on the payroll.
It's not that the Packers don't have any dead money left, as they'll still be shelling out more than $18.3 million to players no longer on the roster in 2025.
But when you look at teams like the Cleveland Browns or even the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, both of whom will take dead cap hits of more than $50 million over the next 12 months, general manager Brian Gutekunst shouldn't feel too bad about Green Bay's situation in that department.
And he should feel fantastic about Green Bay's overall situation.
With Over The Cap splitting the recent projection right down the middle at $279.5 million, the Packers will have $49,140,088 in cap space heading into the new league year, good for 13th in the NFL.
In terms of effective cap space, which takes into account what a team will have after signing at least 51 players and its projected class from the 2025 NFL Draft to its roster, Green Bay is projected to have $46,074,742 at its disposal, good for 11th in the league.
That's a nice chunk of change to have heading into free agency and should give Gutekunst and LaFleur plenty of options to add weapons on both sides of the ball.
That said, however, the Packers do need to be careful not to overspend. Because while they're in a great position now, they're among the teams with the lowest projected cap space in 2026, as they've got decisions to make on possible contract extensions, fifth-year options, and pending free agents. But that's next year's problem, right?
For now, Packers fans should get excited for what could be a very entertaining offseason.