As part of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the players’ union, NFL teams must average a cash spend of 90 percent of the salary cap over three years, or clubs have to redistribute that difference to the players’ union with no benefit in return to the franchise. As it stands right now, the distance the Green Bay Packers have to make up in 2026 is $173.6 million.
The Packers are set to spend $291.3 million on their players in 2026, before free agency or the draft even begins, which is already the fourth-highest rate in the league behind just the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, so they shouldn’t be in jeopardy of falling below the three-year salary floor in 2026.
This does include $20 million going toward center Elgton Jenkins and $19.5 million for edge defender Rashan Gary, two players who will likely become cap casualties for the team. They rank third and fourth for Green Bay in terms of 2026 cash payments. Even with that extra $39.5 million in cash freed up, though, the Packers’ three-year average clears the bar by north of $78 million.
Packers Cash Payments — Projected, 2026
- Jordan Love, QB: $51 million
- Micah Parsons, EDGE: $40.8 million
- Elgton Jenkins, C: $20 million
- Rashan Gary, EDGE: $19.5 million
- Aaron Banks, G: $18.1 million
- Xavier McKinney, S: $13.4 million
- Devonte Wyatt, DT: $12.9 million
- Josh Jacobs, RB: $11.5 million
- Nate Hobbs, CB: $9.1 million
- Zach Tom, T: $6.1 million
- Christian Watson, WR: $5.8 million
- Keisean Nixon, CB: $5 million
The 12 contracts above are the only notable veteran deals on the team. After that, the next highest-earners for Green Bay, at least until free agency, are cornerback Carrington Valentine, defensive tackle Karl Brooks, receiver Dontayvion Wicks and tight end Tucker Kraft, who have their salaries bumped up to $3.7 million in 2026 because of the proven performance escalator.
Per Over the Cap, here’s how much each team needs to spend to get to the three-year cash spend floor this offseason:
- Los Angeles Rams: $280.5 million
- Seattle Seahawks: $266.7 million
- Las Vegas Raiders: $261.7 million
- New York Jets: $240.8 million
- New Orleans Saints: $224.1 million
- Tennessee Titans: $222.7 million
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $219.3 million
- Los Angeles Chargers: $214.6 million
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $205.4 million
- Baltimore Ravens: $200.1 million
- Arizona Cardinals: $199.5 million
- Indianapolis Colts: $191.8 million
- Cincinnati Bengals: $188.0 million
- Carolina Panthers: $184.9 million
- New York Giants: $180.2 million
- Washington Commanders: $179.2 million
- Green Bay Packers: $173.4 million
- Kansas City Chiefs: $169.0 million
- New England Patriots: $166.2 million
- Houston Texans: $160.6 million
- Atlanta Falcons: $159.8 million
- Chicago Bears: $154.7 million
- Dallas Cowboys: $154.1 million
- Denver Broncos: $145.1 million
- Buffalo Bills: $144.1 million
- Detroit Lions: $141.3 million
- Philadelphia Eagles: $130.2 million
- Miami Dolphins: $128.6 million
- Minnesota Vikings: $125.2 million
- Cleveland Browns: $100.6 million
- San Francisco 49ers: $92.0 million
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $72.5 million
You can go ahead and bank on the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders being big spenders this offseason, because they almost have to be. The Rams and Seahawks are likely to spend more on retaining their homegrown talent than looking to add in free agency, though, an option the Raiders don’t really have available to them.
As it stands now, seven teams need to increase their cash spending in 2026 to hit the three-year floor, per Spotrac’s data. Here’s how much money they need to spend to become compliant, based on how their current contracts are scheduled:
- Las Vegas Raiders: $101.2 million
- New York Jets: $88.8 million
- Tennessee Titans: $54.8 million
- Los Angeles Rams: $52.2 million
- New Orleans Saints: $51.1 million
- Los Angeles Chargers: $50.8 million
- Seattle Seahawks: $44.8 million
These teams will be very active between now and mid-March, as they’ll be adding players or extending their own.
Truthfully, it’s hard to fall below the cash floor in the current NFL, since teams are already spending 10 percent over the salary cap in cash on a year-to-year basis. Over the last six years, since teams learned how to manipulate cap space during the Covid era, only one team has spent less collective cash on players than the collective salary cap over those six seasons: the Steelers (by less than $36 million, less than $6 million under the cap per year or 2.67 percent below the cap over six seasons).