NFL's official 2026 salary cap is on the low end of expectations

Here it is. The 2026 NFL salary cap has been officially set at $301.2 million per team, as reported by NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and confirmed by NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. It's a big jump of $22 million from last year's spending limit, which is the good news. The bad news is that it's a little short of what was expected, with recent reports predicting a cap of $303.5 million. But the New Orleans Saints won't be losing sleep over a difference of $2.3 million.

As far as the Saints are concerned, they should be in the red by roughly $10.5 million. It won't take much work to get clear. Restructuring contracts with guys like Chase Young and Erik McCoy will be enough to get them into compliance. At that point they can look at redoing other deals or extending veterans on contracts set to void before free agency like Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis, which would open up more spending room. Their salary cap health is in a good place. Let's see where it takes them.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: NFL salary set at $301.2 million for 2026; here's where Saints stand