NFL increases minimum salary cap for 2021 season
A lot has been made about what the potential salary cap will be in 2021 following a season in which the COVID-19 pandemic caused financial losses across the NFL.
After previously agreeing on a salary cap floor of $175 million, the league sent a memo to all 32 teams on Thursday saying the minimum has been raised to $180 million following talks with the NFLPA, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.
The memo in full reads:
"As you know, one aspect of the agreements negotiated last summer with the NFLPA to address operations during the pandemic provides that the 2021 Salary Cap will be no less than $175 million. Following discussions with the union that addressed both actual 2020 revenues and projected attendance for the 2021 season, we have agreed to increase the minimum Salary cap for the 2021 League Year to $180 million.
"This is not the final Salary Cap for the 2021 League Year, which will be set following review of final 2020 revenue figures and other audit and accounting adjustments. This agreement simply increases the minimum 2021 Salary Cap by $5 million per club, from $175 million to $180 million.
"We will promptly advise all clubs as soon as the Salary Cap is set."
Teams won't know exactly how much cap space they will have until the official cap is set. However, the memo sent Thursday provides teams with a starting point in which they can begin to create plans ahead of the start of free agency.
The new league year begins on March 17.
View the players set to become free agents when the new league year begins March 17.
Capturing 2020: The storytellers tell their story
March 12, 2020 was the date that calendars froze on the desks at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
With the coronavirus blanketing the country, the Giants released the following statement at 3:44 p.m. ET. It was a Thursday.
"As of today and for the foreseeable future, we have taken our scouts and coaches off the road for pro days and campus workouts. All business travel has been suspended until further notice. In addition, we will limit visitors and personnel to the Quest Diagnostics Training Center and have required most of our employees to work from home for the next two weeks. We will continue to assess our operations and procedures based on what the medical community and science dictates. Our concern and care is for those in our organization, our staff and players, and the communities in which they live."
Forty-nine Thursdays later, so much has changed – yet also remains the same.
Desks are still empty. The cafeteria is still quiet. The parking lot is still more pavement than painted steel and rubber tires.
Only those deemed essential to football operations commuted into the office and worked "normally" – a relative term in the middle of the pandemic – during the winding course of a 2020 NFL season that at one point looked like it would never happen. Tier 1 personnel under the NFL's COVID-19 protocols consisted of coaches, players, medical staff, and other select members of the front office. It also included a multimedia producer and graphics designer.
Once the protocols were established, Michael Becton and Matt Swensen became the eyes and ears of the Giants' in-house media. These two men, and only these two, were granted access to practices, sidelines, and the team plane. While the world interacted with first-year head coach Joe Judge and a new-look roster in a virtual setting, these two were there in person … just six feet away.
"This was a year that required many of our people to do many things," Judge said. "It took teamwork and communication, not just with the players and coaches but also with all the different departments who support what we do. Mike and Matt are a two-man band. In addition to providing content for the team's website and social media platforms, they pitched in to assist in our communications and outreach efforts.
"They also did a great job of producing videos for our team, which was a change of pace and something that energized the players and coaches. Because of the restriction on the number of staff we could have in the facility and in the travel party, they were the only production people on-site from the start of camp until the conclusion of the season. I know I appreciate everything they did."
Re-live the most memorable moments and images from the first year of the Joe Judge era.
Inside the Film Room: Cam Brown impressed on ST and defense
Bob Papa and two-time Super Bowl Champion Carl Banks break down the film of rookie linebacker Cam Brown on this edition of Inside the Film Room.