"Football Team" Salary Cap Update

Cha-ching! The Washington Football Team under Bruce Allen in the past few years had some but not a lot of money. This year, they have plenty.

As we enter Week 1 of the NFL season and with the cutdown to 53 - here are the latest salary cap numbers for the Washington Football Team and the other NFL teams with ample salary cap space. 

And, per the NFL report, the teams that head into Week 1 with the most cap room ...

1) Browns $34.74M
2) Patriots $32.24M
3) Jets $31.31M
4) Jaguars $30.95M
5) Football Team $26.03M
6) Broncos $25.43M
7) Lions $19.64M
8) Eagles $18.49M
9) Dolphins $17.09M
10) Titans $17.08M

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 7, 2020

If you notice, there's only one team on the top-ten list named, well, "Football Team" and bingo, that's your favorite (maybe?) organization.

As Breer points out - the top 51 rule is still currently in place so the "Football Team" space should be a little less when the '53' element of the cap goes into place. 

Reason the Rams can be ... "Top 51" rules are in place until Wednesday, meaning top 51 cap numbers are calculated against the cap. After that, all 53 go into the equation. So Rams have work to do the next 2 days. https://t.co/bishPUnGuL

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 7, 2020

OvertheCap.com has slightly different numbers with Washington coming in at $25.635 million worth of space

The union shows different numbers as of Tuesday morning with Washington having over $33 million in cap space. Those numbers are from the public salary cap report. My understanding is they are often different from the master NFL cap report. 

Often the union site is a day or so behind as contracts process and get sorted out, especially with so many transactions taking place in a small window. 

For next year, per OTC, the Washington Football Team is projected to have about $55 million in cap space under a projected $176 million cap but an effective cap space (Top-51) of about $51 million with 44 players currently under contract. 

Clearly, if the NFL and NFLPA work out a deal to have a higher cap number for 2021, that would benefit every team but it would give the WFT even more room to operate with. 

Right now, the projections are showing the salary cap could be about $35-$37 million less pre-pandemic, which obviously hurts every team but because Washington has been mostly prudent (even under Bruce Allen) they are in terrific position on the surface even with that. 

If Washington has roughly $20 million as a carryover from this year's cap to next year, they could have more $70 million or more in operating space for 2021.

In other words, they can have a bonanza if they really want. 

Of course, Washington will have their own free agents to potentially deal with: Brandon Scherff, Ryan Kerrigan, Ryan Anderson, Ronald Darby, Chase Roullier and more. 

If Dwayne Haskins doesn't work out, they could target Dak Prescott if they really want to go big or they could bring in Cam Newton who only signed a one-year deal in New England. 

Lavonte David of the Tampa Bay Bucs might be very attractive to two former linebackers looking to spice up their defensive unit. 

Joe Thuney is a top guard on the potential free agent market although it's hard to see Washington spending huge money on both  Scherff and Thuney. 

However, they could let Scherff go if he doesn't stay healthy this year. 

Washington went hard after Amari Cooper and fell short, so it stands to reason that they may be in the market again. Allen Robinson from the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Bucs stud Chris Godwin and current Carolina Panther receiver Curtis Samuel are all scheduled to be on the market as of now. 

It's obviously beyond early to be thinking of 2021 but make no mistake about it, NFL teams think and project 2-3 years ahead in terms of the cap. There's no choice. 

By any reasonable projection - the  Washington Football Team is in great shape to take advantage of a severely restricted market. 

What exactly that will look like, nobody knows but right now the future is looking bright for next offseason, no matter how much chaos 2020 has brought. 

Join "Burgundy & Gold Forever + now and get exclusive access available only to members and Sports Illustrated Magazine for free!

/nfl/washingtonfootball/burgundy-and-gold-forever-plus/

Chris Russell is the Publisher of this site, a part of SI.com. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Washington Football Team" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621