When Packers GM Brian Gutekunst spoke to the media last week, he made it clear that Green Bay isn’t boxed in by the salary cap. “If opportunities present themselves, we’re never not able to do those things,” he said.
And he’s not wrong. The Packers have room to maneuver financially - they can restructure contracts, push money into future seasons, and create flexibility.
But here’s the thing: so can just about every other team in the league.
Green Bay, for example, could free up around $52 million in cap space through simple restructures - converting base salaries or roster bonuses into signing bonuses that get spread across the life of a contract. That’s a decent chunk of change, but in today’s NFL, it only ranks 25th in potential cap flexibility. In other words, the Packers are far from the most aggressive team when it comes to cap gymnastics.
Take the Detroit Lions, who could theoretically open up $128 million in cap space this year without cutting a single player. That’s the kind of flexibility that turns heads, and it underscores a broader league-wide trend: teams are more financially nimble than ever.
The salary cap used to be a hard stop. Now, it’s more like a speed bump - something you manage around rather than something that dictates your every move.
This new cap era has changed the free agent landscape. With so many teams able to spend, the competition for top-tier talent should be fierce - but the problem is, there just hasn’t been much of that talent available.
Over the past few offseasons, we’ve seen fewer high-end players hit the open market. It’s not just a coincidence.
Teams are locking up their stars early, and the ones who do become available are often mid-tier veterans or role players. That’s why ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently floated the idea that we might see more trades this offseason - with a shallow free agent and draft class, teams may look to the trade market to find impact players.
The cap itself keeps rising - from $182.5 million in 2021 to $279.2 million in 2025 - but teams are spending even faster. Since the COVID season in 2020, cash spending has outpaced the salary cap by about 10 percent annually.
That gap hasn’t shrunk as the league has rebounded - if anything, it’s become the new normal. Owners are shelling out more real dollars than ever, and some are pushing the limits of what the league office is comfortable with.
Commissioner Roger Goodell even admitted last offseason that some owners have questioned whether the current cap system is being used as intended.
All this flexibility has created a strange market dynamic. With fewer stars available and more money to spend, average players - especially those coming off rookie contracts - are cashing in big.
We’ve seen $20 million per year deals for offensive tackles who are more solid than spectacular, $15 million for off-ball linebackers, and $13 million for nickel corners. That kind of spending used to be reserved for Pro Bowlers.
Now, it’s the going rate for dependable starters.
It’s also revealing which franchises are willing to go all-in with their wallets. The Cleveland Browns, for instance, have spent $362 million more in cash on players than the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2020.
That’s not a typo - $362 million. To put that in perspective, it’s nearly double the entire team-level salary cap from 2021.
And it’s not like the Steelers have been cheap. Their spending has still outpaced the cap over that span.
But in this new era, they’ve gone from above average to second-lowest in the league in total cash spending.
Here’s the kicker: all that money hasn’t translated to wins. The Browns rank just 27th in dollars spent per win since 2020.
That’s a tough pill to swallow for a franchise that’s been trying to buy its way into contention. Meanwhile, the Packers - a team that’s been relatively middle-of-the-pack in terms of spending (14th since 2020) - have been far more efficient.
They’ve spent about $10.4 million more than the league average over that stretch, or roughly 11 percent above the cap, and yet they rank sixth in dollars per win. Only the Chiefs, Bills, Steelers, Rams, and Seahawks have been more efficient at turning cash into victories.
So what does all this mean for the upcoming offseason? If recent trends hold, we’re likely to see another spending spree - not for superstars, but for the next tier of players.
With limited options in free agency and the draft, teams will once again pay a premium for average starters. The gap between those players and true stars will continue to shrink, at least in terms of salary.
In a league where everyone has money to spend, the smartest front offices will be the ones who know how - and when - to spend it.