The NFL took its time but finally announced the 2021 season’s salary cap, setting it at $182.5 million.
That’s a little higher than expected and the announcement was a little later than expected too, coming a day after the deadline to apply the franchise tag to players.
Regardless, that means Cincinnati’s adjusted salary cap after accounting for rollover money and other adjustments checks in at about $195 million. As of now, the team then has $43.913 in open cap space.
The available cap for the Bengals could still climb quite a bit should they choose to make certain roster moves, such as cutting Geno Atkins ($9.5 million in savings).
As we broke down earlier, the Bengals likely were strategic in not tagging William Jackson or Carl Lawson so that they have the maximum amount of free cap possible to chase outside free agents.
The Bengals have until Monday to sign their own free agents before legal tampering begins and the market opens next Wednesday.
