In less than a month, NFL free agency will begin and teams will be able to sign new players to their roster as the new league year gets underway March 11.
Some teams will have more room to spend in free agency than others, depending on the amount of open cap space. Meanwhile, other teams will have to make roster decisions and even restructure contracts to become cap compliant by the start of the new league year in March. According to NFL.com, the league is projected to have a salary cap between $301.2 million and $305.7 million.
Before free agency begins, here’s every team ranked based on their cap space.
NFL teams ranked by cap space
(Source: Spotrac)
- 1. Titans: $99.04 million
- 2. Raiders: $87.82 million
- 3. Jets: $82.53 million
- 4. Chargers: $82.1 million
- 5. Seahawks: $73.1 million
- 6. Commanders: $67.99 million
- 7. Bengals: $53.75 million
- 8. Steelers: $44.77 million
- 9. Rams: $40.99 million
- 10. Patriots: $35.34 million
- 11. Colts: $34.95 million
- 12. Cardinals: $34.82 million
- 13. Falcons: $27.72 million
- 14. Broncos: $26.03 million
- 15. 49ers: $25.54 million
- 16. Ravens: $22.67 million
- 17. Buccaneers: $14.48 million
- 18. Panthers: $11.69 million
- 19. Eagles: $9.81 million
- 20. Giants: $7.03 million
- 21. Packers: -$4.34 million
- 22. Texans: -$5.39 million
- 23. Lions: -$9.15 million
- 24. Jaguars: -$9.17 million
- 25. Bills: -$10.22 million
- 26. Bears: -$10.69 million
- 27. Browns: -$19.54 million
- 28. Dolphins: -$23.33 million
- 29. Cowboys: -$31.53 million
- 30. Vikings: -$40.63 million
- 31: Saints: -$41.77 million
- 32: Chiefs: -$57.96 million
The Titans, Raiders and Jets finally stand atop an NFL rankings list—even if just in cap space. As all three cellar-dwellers look to turn their rosters around and become contenders, they will fortunately have money to spend and help build through free agency. They can follow the model the Patriots set a year ago. New England entered the 2025 offseason with more cap space than any other team and capitalized by adding players such as Milton Williams and Stefon Diggs, who helped them return to the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks are coming off the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship, yet still rank top-five in cap space—in part thanks to Sam Darnold’s team-friendly contract. With extensions looming for star cornerback Devon Witherspoon and wide receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba, and free agency decisions on players such as Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III, the Seahawks could certainly be spending more this offseason.
On the negative side, about a third of the league is currently over the cap and will have to work to get back under. The Chiefs are nearly $58 million above the cap, worst in the league, which does not suit them well as they try and return to the playoffs next season. The Vikings and Saints are also not in great spots as they sit more than $40 million over the cap, even with quarterbacks on rookie contracts.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Teams Ranked by Cap Space Heading Into 2026 Free Agency.
