Salary Cap to Grow to $127 M for 2009

According to Adam Schefter of the NFL Network the salary cap will grow in 2009.

Teams didn’t spend as much as they were supposed to under the collective bargaining agreement the past three years, therefore the salary cap will increase over $4 million to $127 million for this coming year. The collective bargaining agreement calls for cap adjustment down if teams spend over the cap in cash and adjustment up if they don’t spend up to the cap. Teams believed they would see a mild increase in the salary cap, but this is bigger than teams expected.

The increase defies logic in this tough economic time, but as we are less than 24 hours from the start of free agency, teams actually will have more flexibility and salary-cap room.

For teams such as the Colts and Panthers, who are pressed against the cap, this is tremendous news and not such good news for teams such as the Buccaneers and Chiefs, who were way under the cap. Now their advantage is somewhat compromised.