5 NFL teams most likely to benefit from increased salary cap in 2022 season

The salary cap for most teams in the 2020 and 2021 seasons took some adjusting. The total cap space was altered in the event that there wouldn't be a full season due to Covid-19 concerns.

The total salary cap for teams this season was $182.5 million dollars, which is down from $198.2 million dollars in 2020. There are reports that suggest the new cap will be raised to $208.2 million for the 2022 season.

This increase will be incredibly beneficial for teams that need to retain their superstar players, while also being able to spend a bit in free agency.

Here are five teams that benefit the most from the increased salary cap:

---

Which NFL team will benefit the most from the new salary cap?

#5 - Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins were already going to be the team with the most projected salary cap in 2022, but with the increase, they have now secured the top spot. With the new $208 million dollar cap space, the Dolphins will have a reported $77 million in cap space. These numbers come from overthecap.com.

The Dolphins were a bit costly with their draft picks in 2021, and will now be without their own first-round pick, but take in the 49ers. However, they will have the biggest salary cap to shore up the team in free agency. They will need an established run game and a better offensive line next season.

---

#4 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have one of the most stacked teams in the entire league, and their contracts are nothing short of massive. Tom Brady, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, Ndamuong Suh, and Chris Godwin all have their contracts 100% guaranteed, so paying their salary every season is nothing cheap.

With the new increase, even handling all these contracts, the Bucs will still retain over $32 million in cap space. Their contracts have a hefty $178 million of their salary cap, but they can still make moves to ensure they can still retain their Super Bowl team.

NFL teams who benefit from a higher salary cap

Who benefits the most from the increased salary cap?

#3 - Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons will need all the help they can get in their "rebuild." Matt Ryan needs more help, and that will come in the way of building their team through free agency.

If the salary cap was still at $180 million this year, the Falcons would have no cap space available to them. However, with the increase, they retain $13 million in cap space after their contracts take up $180 million. Moves will have to be made to nab some high-profile players in the offseason, but the Falcons were lucky with the new salary cap.

---

#2 - San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers have a plethora of contracts that they have to worry about, and that total comes in around $195 million. Should the salary cap be what it was in the 2020 season, they would have been left with only $3 million to spend on their new players.

Now they will retain $12 million on their salary cap with the new increase for the 2022 season. The 49ers are knocking on the door of the playoffs again but could do well with building their trenches as they are always dealing with injuries.

---

#1 - Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams are 100% saved by the new salary cap. This comes at a time when they have completely bought into the "win now" style of acquiring players. The Rams went for Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. in their attempt to make it to the Super Bowl.

That doesn't account for Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey contracts that take up a ton of their salary cap. Now with the increase, the Rams will have over $2 million in cap space to work with acquiring new talent should their bid for the Super Bowl fail. They could have been in the negative cap space area without many draft picks due to trades. This increase saved them from total financial panic.