NFL Encyclopedia

Plain-English definitions for the NFL terms that actually matter: salary cap mechanics, draft capital, fantasy scoring, and the analytics behind our tools.

All Terms

Salary Cap: The NFL salary cap is the maximum amount of money a team can spend on player salaries in a given league year. It is set
Cap Space: Cap space is the difference between the salary cap and a team's total committed cap charges. It represents how much room
Cap Hit: A player's cap hit is the total amount charged against the salary cap in a given year. It includes base salary, prorated
Dead Money: Dead money is the cap charge a team must absorb for a player who is no longer on the roster. It typically consists of un
Cap Ceiling: The cap ceiling is the maximum salary cap figure for a given league year. It is the hard limit that no team can exceed i
Cap Floor: The cap floor is the minimum amount teams must spend on player compensation over a defined period. Teams that fall below
Top 51 Rule: During the offseason, only the 51 highest-paid players on a team's roster count toward the salary cap. This gives teams
Cap Rollover: Cap rollover allows teams to carry over unused salary cap space from one league year to the next, effectively increasing
Cash Spending vs Cap Spending: Cash spending is the actual money paid to players in a given year, while cap spending is the accounting charge against t
Salary Cap Projections: Salary cap projections are estimates of future cap figures based on expected league revenue growth. Teams use these proj
Base Salary: Base salary is the fixed annual compensation a player earns for being on the roster. It counts fully against the cap in
Signing Bonus: A signing bonus is a lump-sum payment made to a player upon signing a contract. For cap purposes, it is prorated evenly
Roster Bonus: A roster bonus is a payment triggered when a player is on the active roster on a specific date. Unlike signing bonuses,
Option Bonus: An option bonus is a payment that a team can choose to exercise, typically adding years to a contract. Once exercised, i
Incentives (LTBE vs NLTBE): Contract incentives are bonus payments tied to performance benchmarks. They are classified as Likely To Be Earned (LTBE)
Guaranteed Money: Guaranteed money is the portion of a contract that a player will receive regardless of whether they are cut, injured, or
Prorated Bonus: A prorated bonus is the annual cap charge created when a signing bonus (or option bonus) is divided evenly across the ye
Void Years: Void years are contract years that automatically void (cancel) on a specific date. They exist solely to spread signing b
Average Annual Value (APY): Average Annual Value (APY) is the total value of a contract divided by its length in years. It is the standard benchmark
Fully Guaranteed Contract: A fully guaranteed contract means every dollar of the deal is owed to the player regardless of performance, injury, or r
Escalators: Escalators are contract clauses that automatically increase a player's salary or guarantees if specific performance or p
Per-Game Roster Bonus: A per-game roster bonus (PGRB) is a payment earned for each game a player is on the active 46-man gameday roster. It rew
Franchise Tag: The franchise tag is a designation that allows a team to retain an impending free agent for one year at a salary based o
Transition Tag: The transition tag retains a pending free agent at the average of the top 10 salaries at their position. The tagging tea
Exclusive Franchise Tag: The exclusive franchise tag prevents a player from negotiating with any other team. The salary is set at the average of
Non-Exclusive Franchise Tag: The default franchise tag that pays the higher of the average of the top 5 salaries at the player's position or 120% of
Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA): A player whose contract has expired and who has four or more accrued seasons in the NFL. UFAs may sign with any team wit
Restricted Free Agent (RFA): A player with three accrued NFL seasons whose contract has expired. RFAs can negotiate with other teams, but the origina
Exclusive Rights Free Agent (ERFA): A player with fewer than three accrued NFL seasons whose contract has expired. If the team offers a minimum salary tende
Offer Sheet: A contract offer from a new team to a restricted free agent or a player under a non-exclusive franchise/transition tag.
Right of First Refusal: The ability of a player's current team to retain the player by matching any contract offer the player receives from anot
Compensatory Draft Picks: Additional draft picks awarded to teams that lost more or better compensatory free agents than they signed. These picks
Pre-June 1 Cut: Releasing a player before June 1, which accelerates all remaining dead money into the current cap year. This is the defa
Post-June 1 Designation: A roster designation that spreads a released player's dead money across two cap years instead of one. Teams may designat
Practice Squad: A supplemental roster of up to 17 players who practice with the team but are not on the active 53-man roster. Practice s
Injured Reserve (IR): A roster designation for players with injuries that prevent them from playing. Players placed on IR must miss at least f
Physically Unable to Perform (PUP): A preseason designation for players recovering from injuries sustained before training camp. PUP list players do not cou
Non-Football Injury (NFI): A designation for players unable to perform due to injuries or conditions not sustained during NFL football activities.
Commissioner's Exempt List: A special designation that allows the NFL commissioner to remove a player from all team activities while an investigatio
53-Man Roster: The maximum number of players an NFL team can have on its active roster during the regular season. Teams must cut down f
Waiver System: The process by which released players are made available to all other teams before becoming free agents. Waiver priority
Vested Veteran: A player who has accrued four or more credited NFL seasons. Vested veterans bypass the waiver system when released, imme
Rookie Wage Scale: The CBA-mandated pay structure that determines the maximum allowable contract values for drafted rookies based on their
Fifth-Year Option: A one-year contract extension available exclusively for first-round draft picks. Teams must exercise the option after th
Slotted Draft Pick Value: The predetermined contract value assigned to each draft pick position under the rookie wage scale. Each slot has a fixed
Rookie Pool: The total amount of salary cap space a team must allocate for all of its draft picks' contracts in a given year. The poo
Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA): A player who was not selected in the NFL Draft and is free to sign with any team. UDFAs typically receive minimum salary
Draft Pick Compensation: Draft picks exchanged between teams as part of trades, or awarded by the league to compensate for lost free agents. Draf
Traded Pick Value Chart: A reference chart that assigns a point value to each draft pick position, used by teams to evaluate the fairness of prop
Compensatory Pick Formula: The NFL's proprietary formula that determines which teams receive compensatory draft picks based on the net value of fre
Rookie Contract Structure: First-round picks sign four-year deals with a team option for a fifth year, while rounds 2-7 sign four-year contracts. A
Rookie Minimum Salary: The league-mandated minimum base salary for first-year NFL players. For 2025, the rookie minimum is $795,000, and it inc
Trade Deadline: The NFL trade deadline falls on the Tuesday after Week 8, after which teams cannot trade players or draft picks until th
Cap Implications of Trades: When a player is traded, the acquiring team absorbs the remaining base salary and any new prorated bonus, while the orig
Conditional Draft Picks: Draft picks included in trades whose round or existence depends on specific performance conditions being met, such as pl
Trade Compensation: The assets exchanged in an NFL trade, typically a combination of draft picks, players, and occasionally cash considerati
Player-for-Player Trades: Trades where both sides exchange active roster players rather than (or in addition to) draft picks. These are uncommon i
Sign-and-Trade: A transaction where a team signs one of its own free agents to a new contract and then immediately trades them to anothe
Trade Kicker: A contractual clause that pays the player an additional bonus if they are traded, typically calculated as a percentage o
Future Draft Pick Trades: Trades involving draft picks from upcoming drafts rather than the current year's draft. The NFL allows teams to trade pi
Restructure: A contract modification where a portion of a player's base salary is converted into a signing bonus, which is then prora
Contract Extension: A new contract that replaces or extends a player's existing deal, typically adding years and increasing total value whil
Cap Casualty: A player released primarily because their salary cap hit is too large relative to their production or the team's availab
Backloaded Contract: A contract structured with lower salaries in the early years and escalating salaries in later years, creating short-term
Frontloaded Contract: A contract with higher salaries in the early years and lower salaries in later years, providing the team with more futur
Conversion (Salary to Bonus): The process of converting a player's base salary or roster bonus into a signing bonus, spreading the cap charge over rem
Creating Cap Space: The various methods NFL teams use to generate additional salary cap room, including restructures, cuts, trades, extensio
Cap Accounting Tricks: Creative but legal contract structures and roster maneuvers that NFL teams use to manipulate their salary cap position,
Spread the Pain Strategy: A cap management philosophy where teams distribute dead money and cap charges across multiple seasons rather than absorb
Kick the Can Strategy: A cap management approach where teams repeatedly push salary cap obligations into future years through restructures and
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA): The master labor agreement between the NFL owners and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) that governs all aspects of pl
Revenue Sharing: The NFL's system for distributing league revenue among all 32 teams and between owners and players. Teams share most nat
Minimum Team Cash Spending: A CBA requirement that each NFL team must spend a minimum percentage of the salary cap in actual cash paid to players ov
Performance-Based Pay: An annual fund distributed by the NFL to players whose on-field contributions (measured by playing time) exceed their co
Veteran Salary Benefit: A cap credit that reduces the salary cap charge for qualifying veterans signed to minimum salary contracts, with the lea