In the NFL, how does a team’s free agent impact their salary cap?
A A restricted free agent tender contract will count against the cap until the player signs a new contract
B A restricted free agent’s previous season contract will count against the cap until the player signs a new contract
C The team’s free agent has no impact on their salary cap
D An unrestricted free agent’s previous season’s salary counts against the cap until the player signs a new contract
The correct answer and explanation is:
Correct Answer: A) A restricted free agent tender contract will count against the cap until the player signs a new contract
In the NFL, a team’s salary cap is directly affected by the status and contractual decisions regarding its free agents, particularly restricted free agents (RFAs). A restricted free agent is a player who has completed three accrued seasons and whose contract has expired. The team that holds the player’s rights can offer a one-year “tender” contract at a predetermined amount, which depends on the level of compensation the team wishes to receive if the player signs with another team.
Once a team places a tender on a restricted free agent, the tender amount is immediately applied against the team’s salary cap, regardless of whether the player signs it. This means that the team must reserve that amount of cap space as if the player has already accepted the tender. The logic behind this is to prevent teams from overcommitting financially by offering multiple tenders they may not be able to honor under the cap if all were accepted at once.
If the player signs the tender, that contract becomes official and the cap charge remains. If the player does not sign and instead negotiates a long-term deal, the tender amount is removed and replaced with the new contract’s actual terms. If another team offers the player a contract and the original team declines to match, the cap space previously reserved by the tender is released.
Unrestricted free agents, on the other hand, do not count against the team’s cap once their contracts expire. Therefore, a restricted free agent tender is unique in how it immediately affects cap management even before the player signs.