Raiders, Patriots among 10 NFL teams that must boost salary payroll

Tom Pelissero | USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Raiders must dramatically increase their payroll over the next two years. The Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and eight other teams must ramp up spending as well.

The 2011 collective bargaining agreement says teams must spend 89% of the salary cap in cash over two distinct four-year periods (2013-16 and 2017-20).

According to numbers compiled last week by the NFL Players Association, nearly one-third of the league's clubs are below the minimum cash spending floor for the four-year window from 2013 to '16, and those teams will have to make up the difference at a time the salary cap is rising.

Over the past two seasons, the Raiders spent the least cash: about $205.3 million, or 80.2% of the $256 million total they were allotted, per the NFLPA. If the cap goes up by $10 million per year in both 2015 and '16, the Raiders' average payroll for the next two seasons must increase by more than $40 million just to hit the minimum.

Agents figure to take notice of which teams have to spend money as they prepare for the annual slew of pre-free agency meetings this week at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

Also underspending — as of Feb. 9, when the NFLPA calculated the numbers — were: the Carolina Panthers (80.8%), New York Jets (81.16%), Jacksonville Jaguars (82.2%), Dallas Cowboys (82.6%), New England (82.7%), New Orleans Saints (86.2%), Washington Redskins (87%), New York Giants (87.9%) and Pittsburgh Steelers (88.3%).

Top spenders for the 2013 and '14 league years were: the Green Bay Packers ($296.9 million, 116% of the cap), Atlanta Falcons ($279.3 million, 109.1%), Seattle Seahawks ($274.9 million, 107.4%), Chicago Bears ($271.5 million, 106%) and Denver Broncos ($269.8 million, 105.4%).

The 2014 spending numbers won't be finalized until 4 p.m. ET on March 10, when the new league year begins.

If teams don't meet their individual 89% thresholds (and/or the league as a whole its 95% aggregate minimum), the difference must be paid to the union, which can distribute the money at its discretion to current and former players who were on the affected rosters.

The idea of focusing on cash spending from the union's perspective was to force teams that regularly underspent under the old CBA (which had cap, not cash, minimums) to ante up. As of Feb. 9, league-wide spending was in compliance at 95.87%, with more than $7.85 billion spent on player salaries over the past two seasons, per the NFLPA.

Cap figures can be tricked up in a variety of ways, such as prorated bonuses, to make the numbers work. But every dollar spent hits the cap eventually, and every team has the same amount of spending power in the long run.

The NFLPA also intends this week to issues its own projection for the 2015 salary cap, which the NFL management council informed teams last month is expected to range from $138.6 million to $141.8 million. The cap rose from $123 million in 2013 to a record $133 million in 2014. The union's 2015 estimate is likely to peg it closer to $143 million, based on projected league revenues.

Under the CBA, players get 55% of revenue from TV deals, 45% of revenue from league properties and 40% of local revenue. Money is taken out for player benefits, and the rest is divided by 32 to set the per-team cap. This is expected to be the second consecutive year in which no adjustments are made to reach the final number.

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