Updated NFL Salary Cap Outlook for All 32 Teams After 2026 NFL Trade Deadline

The 2026 NFL trade deadline came and went at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, and the football landscape looks a lot different than it did over the weekend.

We saw a couple of teams sell significant pieces ahead of the deadline. The Tennessee Titans, for example, dealt standout defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons a couple of weeks ago and traded star safety Amani Hooker on Tuesday. The Indianapolis Colts chose to hang onto quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Jonathan Taylor. However, they traded several other notable players.

On the other end of the spectrum, we saw the Jacksonville Jaguars spend big at the deadline, bringing in Jordan Davis, Davon Godchaux, and Jessie Bates III.

Here, we'll recap some of the biggest deadline deals and take an updated look at every team's salary-cap situation post-deadline.

Grades for all of this week's trades can be found here.

2026 NFL Salary Cap Overview

AP Photo/Justin Berl

President of Football for the Atlanta Falcons Matt Ryan walks on the field before an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026

1. Tennessee Titans $41.3 Million
2. Atlanta Falcons $36.1 Million
3. Detroit Lions $33.9 Million
4. Indianapolis Colts $33.3 Million
5. San Francisco 49ers $31.2 Million
6. Los Angeles Chargers $27.4 Million
7. Washington Commanders $22.9 Million
8. Denver Broncos $19.6 Million
9. Dallas Cowboys $16.2 Million
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers $15.6 Million
11. Pittsburgh Steelers $14.1 Million
12. Cleveland Browns $13.6 Million
13. Philadelphia Eagles $10 Million
14. Las Vegas Raiders $9.3 Million
15. New England Patriots $9.2 Million
16. New York Jets $8.7 Million
17. Houston Texans $8 Million
18. New York Giants $7.5 Million
19. Cincinnati Bengals $7 Million
20. Green Bay Packers $6.7 Million
21. Baltimore Ravens $6.6 Million
22. Miami Dolphins $6.6 Million
23. New Orleans Saints $5.9 Million
24. Arizona Cardinals $5.6 Million
25. Carolina Panthers $4.6 Million
26. Los Angeles Rams $4.4 Million
27. Minnesota Vikings $4.3 Million
28. Seattle Seahawks $4 Million
29. Chicago Bears $2.8 Million
30. Jacksonville Jaguars $2.1 Million
31. Kansas City Chiefs -$136,926
32. Buffalo Bills -$661,656

*Cap information from Spotrac

Trade Deadline Recap and Cap Implications

AP Photo/Justine Willard

Kirk Cousins

Unsurprisingly, the Titans and Colts are now near the top of the league in terms of effective 2026 cap space. Indianapolis kept its biggest players but traded Quenton Nelson, DeForest Buckner, Keenan Allen, and Josh Downs over the past couple of weeks.

The Atlanta Falcons are also near the top after trading Bates. The Jaguars are near the bottom of the league in 2026 cap space, and one of their deals will impact them in the future, too.

While Bates and Godchaux are both set to be free agents in 2027, Davis is signed through 2029. Due to the structuring of his contract, though, he'll only carry a cap hit of $4.8 million next season.

The Los Angeles Chargers agreed to trade standout linebacker Daiyan Henley to the rival Denver Broncos. The Cincinnati Bengals tried to acquire edge-defender Arnold Ebiketie from the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Cincinnati ultimately pulled the plug on the deal after realizing that the move would likely cost a third-round pick due to the nature of the compensatory pick formula.

The biggest deal of Tuesday, of course, involved the Minnesota Vikings' acquisition of quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Las Vegas Raiders traded their starter to Minnesota and will now turn to rookie No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.

Minnesota, meanwhile, will reunite Cousins with head coach Kevin O'Connell for the remainder of the season. The Vikings will have financial options with Cousins next offseason.

It's also worth noting that, now that the deadline has passed, all players who are released are subject to waivers. Before the deadline, vested veterans were not subject to waivers and would instead become immediately free to sign with another team upon being released.

The free agent pool may not be particularly deep right now, but we have an idea of which teams can afford to spend over the second half of the season.

Looking ahead at 2027, the Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and Detroit Lions lead the league in projected cap space. The Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Chicago Bears, and Jaguars make up the bottom five.