Pat Yasinkas of ESPN gives us a list of the 2011 NFL salary cap figures, where the Jacksonville Jaguars check in at $78.1 million. This puts the Jaguars at 29th in the league, in terms of total salary. The only teams below the Jaguars are the Carolina Panthers ($73 million), Kansas City Chiefs ($74.7 million), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($59.7 million). These figures however, are not "final" as some would say.
As you all know, there’s a lot of uncertainty about the labor situation for 2011. These numbers don’t include what restricted free agents, exclusive-rights free agents or franchise players would count toward the cap because we don’t know that -- and won’t until there is a labor agreement in place. And, although we know there will be a 2011 draft no matter what, these numbers don’t include rookie salaries. The numbers below are only for players currently under contract for the 2011 season.
Also, we won’t know what the 2011 salary cap for all teams will be until there’s a deal in place. For reference, the salary cap in 2009, the last capped year was right about $130 million.
Given how the cap has risen in years past, the assumed figure for the potential 2011 salary cap is $135 million. Last year because there was no cap, there was also no salary floor. The salary floor forced teams to spend an "at least" amount of money on their roster, preventing teams to do what the Buccaneers currently did, gut a roster and fill it with a bunch of rookies. That method worked however, it's hard to argue squeezing 10 wins out of the league's lowest salary figure by far. Where the Jaguars sit however, leaves them plenty of room to drop contracts on free agents, current players like Marcedes Lewis, and money to spend on draft picks. If there is a cap in place with a new CBA, I'd expect there to once again be a salary floor.
As for the rest of the AFC South, here are their cap figures:
- Indianapolis Colts: $115.5 Million
- Houston Texans: $118.4 Million
- Tennessee Titans: $107.4 Million