NFL's 2024 Salary Cap Set for Record $255.4M; Up $30M from 2023 Season

The NFL's 2024 salary cap appears to be higher than initially expected.

The league's salary cap for next season has been set at a record-breaking $255.4 million, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. It marks an increase of $30 million from the 2023 campaign.

ESPN's Adam Schefter shared a photo of how the league's salary cap has adapted since 1994, when it was just $34.6 milion:

At the rate the NFL is growing, the salary cap will only continue to rise each season. However, it doesn't seem like many franchises were preparing for the number to rise $30 million in one year—a 13.6 percent increase.

CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones wrote that teams were preparing for the 2024 salary cap to be "in the low to mid 240s" as recently as last week, though he added that they typically take a conservative approach to planning "just in case anything wonky happens."

"The unprecedented $30 million increase per club in this year's salary cap is the result of the full repayment of all amounts advanced by clubs and deferred by the players during the COVID pandemic as well as an extraordinary increase in media revenue for the 2024 season," the NFL said in a statement, per Jones.

Jones added that last week "there was some debate over how much this year's cap should increase relative to the next few years." He also noted that it's "possible—if not likely—the cap numbers in either 2025 or 2026 will not increase at this same rate."

With a higher salary cap, it'll be interesting to see how teams approach free agency. Jones suggested that franchises might be more encouraged to use the franchise tag this year to retain their top would-be free agent.

At this point, teams are just trying to keep pace with the Kansas City Chiefs, which have become the NFL's newest dynasty with three Super Bowl titles in five seasons.

That said, the Chiefs will also benefit from the increased salary cap, and the potential to play with Patrick Mahomes might have many free agents hoping to land in Kansas City.