NFL’s expected salary cap for 2022 is great news for Washington

The Washington Football Team has made significant strides since the bye, before which they look destined to nab a top five draft pick.

Now, though, fans are starting to wonder what this team’s ceiling could be if Ron Rivera and the front office nail the offseason.

That’s obviously easier said than done, because the 2021 offseason was one to forget. Only up until recently has William Jackson performing up to snuff. Curtis Samuel, meanwhile, has played in back-to-back games just two times all year.

In regard to the 2022 offseason, well, Washington figures to be even more busy. We’ll get into the specifics of their expected objectives in a minute.

What’s important is that Washington picked a good time to have to spend a lot of money, because Ian Rapoport reported over the weekend that the NFL’s salary cap is expected to jump as high as $208.2 million.

The NFL’s expected salary cap figure for 2022 is great news for the Washington Football Team.

That $208.2 million is where this year’s cap was initially expected to sit at before the pandemic threw a wrench into those plans.If you remember, the cap endured a seismic reduction coming out of the pandemic, dropping from $198 million to $182.5 million mostly due to limited stadium attendance around the league.

This is pretty big news for Washington, which is projected to have $61.316 million in available cap space next year. That’s good for the fourth-highest of any team in the league and could grow depending on how much (if any) of their remaining $9.83 million in cap space they use between now and the end of the season.

Almost every NFL team felt the effects of the pandemic this past offseason. The Patriots are probably the lone exception, but that’s because Bill Belichick is an evil genius and barely spent a dime in 2019.

Getting back to Washington’s offseason objectives, well, the list is endless. Terry McLaurin is eligible for an extension, and  Rivera and Co. will surely want to get the star receiver locked up for the long haul. The same can be said for Montez Sweat, another member of the 2019 draft class who’s due for a new deal.

What about Brandon Scherff, who’ll be coming off the franchise tag, and Charles Leno, who only signed a one-year deal? You have to think JD McKissic, DeAndre Carter and Joey Slye will be prioritized, too. We’d also be open to retaining depth pieces like Danny Johnson, Cornelius Lucas and Tyler Larsen.

That’s to say nothing of the 2022 free agent class as a whole! As of this writing, Washington has needs at left tackle, right guard, linebacker, and safety. If you take a look around the NFL, there are some intriguing impending free agents who fill those positions and would look pretty darn good in the Burgundy and Gold.

Regardless of what positions you think need improvement, the cap expected to increase nearly $26 million compared to last year is massive for Washington ahead of what figures to be a future-defining offseason in Ashburn.