According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the NFL has raised the 2021 salary cap floor from $175 million to $180 million. This is NOT the final salary cap number for 2021, it simply means that the cap will be no lower than $180 million this offseason, up $5 million from the previous floor.

It really doesn’t help teams or players for the cap to drop too much, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the final number ends up at $185 million or a little north of that mark. It’s also a good sign that the league and the NFLPA were able to work together to re-set the salary cap floor, a sign that both sides seem to be working together toward setting realistic goals for the 2021 season – goals that include the salary cap being as high as possible.

The Bucs don’t really need the salary cap to be higher than $180 million to bring back all of their key free agents due to the massive space they currently have for the 2022 season, but it would obviously help. On the flip side a higher cap obviously helps the Saints too, who are trying to dig their way out of more salary cap hell than they even expected to be in a year ago, with the cap dropping significantly due to the impact of the pandemic. Most importantly, a higher cap than the $175 million originally expected is a good thing for players, with the hope being that by 2022 the cap can return closer to the $198.2 million mark that it reached in 2020.