NFL franchises are beginning to make roster moves with major financial implications ahead of the new league year starting next week.
The 2025 salary cap has been set at $279.2 million, and teams cannot exceed that number when free agency begins March 12 at 4 p.m. ET. Clubs can begin negotiating with players and agents at midnight on March 10, also known as the “legal tampering” period.
As of Wednesday evening, five franchises [still needed to cut cash](https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/_/year/2025/sort/cap_maximum_space2) to become salary-cap compliant, according to Spotrac: the Dolphins, Falcons, Bills, Browns, and Saints.
The Saints are a league-high $46 million over the cap, leaving them with plenty of work to do ahead of next week. The Browns are second-highest, needing to shed nearly $23 million, and are dealing with Deshaun Watson’s $72.7 million cap hit in 2025. Cleveland’s superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett, who has requested a trade, is set to count $19.7 million against the cap next season.
On Wednesday, the Chiefs agreed to trade guard Joe Thuney to the Bears, which freed up $16 million of cap space, almost exactly how much they needed to become cap-compliant, despite the move leaving Kansas City with a $10.9 million dead-cap hit.
The Cowboys freed up $56.6 million in 2025 cap space by restructuring the contracts of quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks released veteran receiver Tyler Lockett to create $17 million of cap space, and the Jets cut Davante Adams, saving the team $29.9 million.
Expect the financial moves to continue throughout this week and early next week, as the NFL’s free-agency frenzy ramps up once again.