Reuters

Back when the owners were told that the salary cap would climb from $123 million in 2013 to $126.3 million in 2014, a source with knowledge of the cap calculation said it will be higher.

Now that reports have put the salary cap as high as $132 million for 2014, the same source has said, once again, it will be higher.

Per the source, the cap could be a “few million” higher than $132 million. If this means $3 million more than reported, the cap could be as high as $135 million. That would amount to an 9.75 percent increase over last year, the biggest spike by far since the 2011 labor deal was negotiated.

It’s unknown whether the increase in the cap, which is based on revenues but inevitably is negotiated by the NFL and the NFLPA, will result from efforts to borrow against future cap increases. In past years, the quid pro quo for an increase in the cap has included an agreement by the NFLPA to permit cap penalties to be imposed on the Cowboys and Redskins for treating the uncapped year of 2010 too literally.

A cynic may wonder whether the spike in the cap for 2014 is aimed at helping NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith fend off a 2015 challenge from Sean Gilbert or, possibly, Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks.

Regardless, the cap could be increasing by similar amounts in the future. Per the source, the 2014 bump is expected to become the trend in future years.