We noted on Friday that the Kansas City Chiefs were approximately $13 million away from hitting the salary cap floor, or the minimum the team had to spend before being fined by the NFL. I've gone over my reasons as to why the Chiefs will have no problem hitting this floor.
There's been a slew of mainstream media reports regarding the $12 million rise in salary cap space between 2008 and 2009. A few of you have asked why we weren't addressing these reports. Well, there's nothing really new here.
Last season, the salary cap was placed at $116 million. This year, with the recent report by Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com that there will be an additional $947,000 in the projection, the salary cap will be approximately $128 million.
The recent barrage of reports on the cap are "old news". The only "new news" here is that salary cap will be approximately $128 million instead of $127 million. All the projections regarding the salary cap you've seen here the last few weeks have been based off the $127 million figure.
Here's a quick run down on the rise of the salary cap. Note that the $12 million rise from last season to this season is the largest jump since 2005 to 2006.
| Year | Salary Cap |
| 2001 | $67.4 million |
| 2002 | $71.1 million |
| 2003 | $75.007 million |
| 2004 | $80.582 million |
| 2005 | $85.5 million |
| 2006 | $102 million |
| 2007 | $109 million |
| 2008 | $116.729 million |
| 2009 | $128 million |
The reason for the big jump between 2005 and 2006 is the extension of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and a different model for calculating salary cap space. It was originally set at $94.5 million, but following the extension of the 2006 CBA, it was raised to $102 million.
There's nothing really new here, other than the FOXSports.com report. We recently went over how the Chiefs will fit their rookies into the cap space, and also broke down the current cap space, the amount needed to reach the minimum, and an approximation of what the money needed to spend following the signing of the rookie class.
So, when you're reading these reports of a $12 million rise in cap space, don't worry. It's nothing new. We've already been talking about it for a few months. We've got you covered here at Arrowhead Pride.