The NFL salary cap for 2024 is well above estimates

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It took place on Friday afternoon The NFL announced the salary cap for the 2024 season will be $255.4 million per team. If that sounds like a lot of money, it is. Most estimates put the figure at around $242.5 million, with only ProFootballTalk saying it could be as high as $250 million. That actual number is higher than all estimates for this offseason and more than $30 million more than last year's cap of $224.8 million. The NFL explained the unexpected increase in an official memo.

“The unprecedented $30 million increase in the salary cap per club this year is the result of the full repayment of all amounts advanced by clubs and deferred by players during the Covid pandemic, as well as an exceptional increase in media revenue for the 2024 season. “”

Obviously, more cap space means teams can spend more money, but it also likely means a significant increase in costs. In other words, it's a good year to be an NFL free agent.

What does this mean for the Detroit Lions?

Well, going into the offseason, the Lions were estimated to have about $40-$50 million in effective cap space. Now that number is closer to $60 million. Over The Cap estimates the Lions have $63.7 million in cap spaceand taking this year's draft class into account, that leaves Detroit with about $55 million in total spending money.

Of course, just because the Lions have more money doesn't mean they're suddenly in a better position to sign free agents. Not only will player prices go up, but all 31 other teams now have that extra space, so there will be competition for those players.

For reference, here's how the NFL's salary cap has essentially doubled over the last 13 years.