The 2019 NFL salary cap has been set at $188.2 million, an increase from the $177.2 million cap last season and the sixth season in a row that the salary cap has grown by at least $10 million.
The finalized number was agreed upon Friday by the NFL and the NFL Players Association ahead of the start of the league year on March 13.
In addition to the salary cap, The Washington Post reports that an additional $40 million is being allotted to player benefits, putting total player expenditures at $228.2 million per team in 2019. These benefits include pension payments to former players, health care costs, player annuities, injury protection costs and performance-based pay.
As part of the new agreement, there is reportedly a new performance-based pay category. Per ESPN, there will be a “veteran performance based pay pool that will only be available to players with one or more accredited season.” The reported amount of annual money allocated for such expenditures is $2.6 million per team. Teams will also have another $4.6 million to spend in performance-based pay that isn’t earmarked for any specific class of players.
