Mark Schlereth says the NFL salary cap isn't real: 'It's a very easily manipulated cap'

The NFL is raising the salary cap for the 2024 season, the league announced last Friday. The cap is now set at $255.4 million per team, an unprecedented $30-plus million rise over last year’s $224.8 million cap.

NFL analyst Mark Schlereth of Audacy’s “Stinkin Truth” podcast explained why the NFL salary cap “isn’t real” due to the manipulation that can be used around it.

“The dirty little secret in the NFL that they don’t want you to know is that the cap isn’t real,” Schlereth said (5:39 in player above). “It’s not a hard cap; it’s a very easily manipulated cap.”

Much is made about the salary cap, but perhaps it shouldn’t be.

“What you have to understand is when you have a player that you no longer want to negotiate with or you no longer feel has the value that that player once had, you claim as an organization ‘cap poverty,’” Schlereth continued. “‘Oh my gosh, we’d just love to have the guy but we just can’t fit him under our cap.’

“If you want a dude, you’ll find a way to fit him under your cap. You’ll find a way to manipulate the cap. It’s completely fungible. You can put it wherever you want to put it and therefore, if a guy has great value to you, you renegotiate his deal – he’s got three years on it, you renegotiate it. You figure it out.”

Schlereth referenced the Dolphins releasing Pro Bowl cornerback Xavien Howard over the weekend. The 30-year-old veteran had three years left on his contract.

“They just cut him. You know why? They don’t want him. I don’t know what the reason is but they don’t want him anymore,” Schlereth said. “If he was valuable to them, or if they really wanted him, they’d find a way to renegotiate that deal to lower down the cap number to make sure that he fits within the structure of the Miami Dolphins organization. They don’t want him anymore so they’ll claim ‘cap poverty’ and ‘We can’t afford’ and this that and the other… That’s just the way it works.”

Schlereth noted that four of the top five teams in terms of dead cap – the Buccaneers, Rams, Packers, and Eagles – all made the playoffs. “Cap poverty” shouldn’t be an excuse.

“If you want to compete you can find a way to manipulate your cap to make sure you get everything you need to be a competitive football team.”