new york jets mark sanchez.jpg

The Jets could save an estimated $8.3 million on their 2014 salary-cap figure by releasing quarterback Mark Sanchez.

(William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

INDIANAPOLIS -- ESPN's Adam Schefter kicked off this year's NFL combine here by reporting that the 2014 salary cap for all teams is expected to be $130 million, or five percent higher than last season's $123 million figure.

Put simply, it's Christmas in February for front offices across the NFL.

"That's $4 million more than people were estimating, and $4 million more than people were told in December," ESPN analyst and former Colts general manager Bill Polian said in an interview. "Every general manager's breathing a sigh of relief."

The Eagles, Giants, and Jets were all expected to be well below the cap heading into next season. So how will that additional $7 million affect their respective bottom lines? Let's have a look.

First, some general details. A team's salary-cap figure only takes its top 51 contracts into account. By using contract numbers from spotrac.com and overthecap.com, we were able to gauge each team's approximate current salaries for the coming season, plus any dead money, which are past signing bonuses and roster prorations pushed into the future to save cap space in the short term, but that must count against a team's cap number event after a player is traded or released.

Now, on to the money ...

Philadelphia Eagles

Estimated 2014 salaries for top 51 players: $122.1 million

Estimated dead money: $1.35 million

Estimated 2013 unused cap space: $17.2 million

Estimated 2014 cap space: $23.7 million

Comment: The Eagles have long done a masterful job of rolling over unused cap space from previous seasons, and this year is no exception—only the Browns, Jaguars, Dolphins, and Bills have more. If they wanted, the Birds could shave another $6.9 million off their cap number—with zero dead money—by releasing inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans. Of course, that would mean replacing inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans, which is likely something they're not going to do.

New York Giants

Estimated 2014 salaries for top 51 players: $110.9 million

Estimated dead money: $2.8 million

Estimated 2013 unused cap space: $0

Estimated 2014 cap space: $16.3 million

Comment: Plenty of room here for the Giants, but they can clear up even more in two ways: 1) Releasing Chris Snee, whose cap number among guards is a league-high $11.3 million, but whose release would bring an estimated $6.8 million in savings; 2) Restructuring Eli Manning's deal, which calls for a $20.4 million cap hit, the fourth-highest in the league.

New York Jets

Estimated 2014 salaries for top 51 players: $107.7 million

Estimated dead money: $49,000

Estimated 2013 unused cap space: $1.5 million

Estimated 2014 cap space: $23.7 million

Comment: The Jets haven't just woken up from the salary-cap nightmare they were in a year ago; they're in free-spending heaven. Consider: They could free up an additional $17 million by cutting receiver Santonio Holmes and quarterback Mark Sanchez. And another $9.5 million could be wiped clean by doing the same with Antonio Cromartie. That would put the Jets at something approaching $50 million in cap space, which they could use not only on free agents, but on what's expected to be a total of 12 draft choices, too.