Free agency is one of the best ways an NFL team can engineer a stunning turnaround and go from bottom-feeder to perennial contender. If you need proof of that, look no further than the New England Patriots, who, after spending the most money in free agency last offseason, surged to the Super Bowl after winning just four games in 2024.

In order to make those moves, however, an NFL team has to have an adequate amount of salary cap space. With the rising costs of player contracts and the exorbitant amount of money required to sign a quarterback to a second contract, some teams are in far worse shape to add talent with free agency officially open.

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It doesn’t have to be that way, of course. A team can drastically alter its situation with a key release or trade, suddenly freeing up the necessary funds to make that one move that finally puts it over the edge.

With free agency having officially kicked off, here’s the amount of cap space with which each team is working this offseason.

When does NFL free agency officially start?

NFL players can officially sign with their new teams as of March 11 at 4 p.m. ET, which marks the start of the new league year. Any trades that were agreed to during the offseason (but prior to that time) are not officially processed by the league until the new year begins.

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What is the NFL salary cap?

The NFL salary cap is a set dollar amount that NFL teams can not exceed with their player contracts. It seeks to create a more even playing field among all NFL teams, as no one team can vastly outspend another. That’s not the case in a sport like baseball, where the Los Angeles Dodgers can run a $318 million payroll and the Miami Marlins can come in at $76.6 million.

For 2026, the NFL set the salary cap at $301.2 million. All 32 teams were require to be under that number by the start of the new league year — March 11 at 4 p.m. ET.

NFL salary cap tracker

With all that out of the way, here is an estimate of each team’s available salary cap space as of Wednesday, March 11 at 4:45 p.m. ET.

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(All figures via OvertheCap.com)

Team

Cap space

Active cap spending

Dead money

Commanders

$76,439,397

$230,685,404

$20,692,736

Chargers

$63,587,408

$233,954,700

$5,548,177

Ravens

$58,517,187

$236,061,158

$16,002,715

Colts

$54,102,289

$239,150,497

$9,593,644

Titans

$51,733,960

$254,013,596

$17,069,272

Seahawks

$42,966,262

$268,955,021

$483,723

Cardinals

$41,678,185

$249,908,196

$23,268,104

Raiders

$37,925,609

$222,531,470

$52,012,266

Jets

$37,124,446

$194,263,716

$91,246,438

Lions

$35,069,788

$259,329,163

$26,468,791

49ers

$34,329,476

$259,979,123

$36,247,741

Patriots

$31,569,730

$295,972,164

$22,990,382

Panthers

$30,465,804

$264,409,823

$16,442,844

Packers

$29,599,808

$240,596,109

$39,199,303

Bengals

$24,182,216

$274,535,672

$11,248,222

Texans

$24,099,399

$219,240,256

$65,366,709

Chiefs

$21,731,968

$269,097,271

$9,773,977

Falcons

$20,597,624

$267,291,339

$16,285,354

Rams

$20,481,323

$278,775,458

$10,937,110

Broncos

$18,623,570

$283,360,355

$1,218,922

Saints

$16,102,740

$186,438,600

$113,971,682

Buccaneers

$15,699,177

$284,528,406

$13,329,591

Steelers

$13,877,382

$290,558,286

$12,221,838

Giants

$10,892,168

$279,897,610

$7,985,138

Eagles

$10,515,188

$229,858,356

$72,525,492

Browns

$8,649,433

$276,179,765

$41,224,848

Bears

$6,806,499

$282,777,516

$19,355,493

Dolphins

$6,336,786

$211,599,574

$89,603,387

Vikings

-$1,037,283

$304,408,782

$8,975,574

Jaguars

-$1,108,711

$255,529,903

$53,340,647

Bills

-$2,094,700

$255,648,269

$46,378,219

Cowboys

-$3,996,182

$304,050,092

$25,994,177

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What is dead money in the NFL?

Most mentions of a team’s salary cap situation typically include the term “dead money.” That figure is the amount of money a team is paying a player who is no longer employed by the team. For example, despite releasing veteran wideout Stefon Diggs, the Patriots are still charged $9.7 million toward the salary cap due to Diggs’ dead-cap number. The move ultimately saved the team roughly $15 million, though, because Diggs’ 2026 cap hit was set to be $26 million in 2026.

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When trying to determine how close a team is to hitting the salary cap, you need to include a team’s dead money number in the equation.