The relationship between cash and winning in the NFL is complicated.

Buying a contender in free agency is all but impossible. But if a team’s owner is willing to spend, a front office can be more proactive in re-signing players. It can strike more boldly when there’s an opportunity to take a big swing. When things inevitably go wrong, cash helps teams move on from mistakes and recover more quickly.

After exploring Wednesday whether the Philadelphia Eagles are a model for the rest of the league, an anomaly or a combination of both, we’re back to take a run through the full 32-team league.

Teams are stacked below from highest to lowest cash spending relative to the salary cap over the previous five seasons (2020-24). We also show where each team ranks in Weighted Wins, a metric that gives additional weight to postseason victories. This lets us determine a “bang-for-buck” differential (cash-over-cap ranking minus Weighted Wins ranking).

The Cleveland Browns rank No. 1 in cash-over-cap spending, but only 18th in Weighted Wins. That makes for a -17 differential, which is 30th in the NFL. The Los Angeles Rams, 28th in cash over cap and sixth in Weighted Wins, enjoy a league-best +22 differential.

Spending tends to be cyclical, evening out over a long period of time. Owners have different tolerances for risk. Some are tighter with their wallets. Massive increases in the salary cap reflect the NFL’s revenue growth. Nearly all teams are now spending to the cap or beyond it in a given year, using accounting mechanisms to defer cap consequences.

“It should be more cyclical with a lean toward a more aggressive cash strategy if your owner is willing to do it,” a general manager said. “There is no reason you should not be able to retain your good players in today’s cap environment. And if you can almost weaponize your contract structure to allow you to put more talent on the field, you should be able to do that.”

We’ll look at teams four at a time, comparing their spending over the last 10 years to the NFL average with the help of data from Jason Fitzgerald of OvertheCap.com. Hover over a chart to see cash-over-cap spending (using a three-year rolling average) by year.

Spenders 1–4Cleveland Browns

  • Cash over cap: 27.4% (1st)
  • Weighted Wins: 42 (18th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -17 (30th)

The Browns were among the lowest-spending teams in the late 2010s as they accumulated draft capital while tearing down the roster to such an extent that former coach Hue Jackson accused them of tanking.

Spending increased in the 2020s when some of those draft choices, led by Myles Garrett, cashed in. The team spent on outside acquisitions (Jack Conklin, Amari Cooper, Dalvin Tomlinson) before making perhaps the most ill-fated personnel decision in NFL history.

The Browns’ $230 million deal with quarterback Deshaun Watson was remarkable because it was fully guaranteed at signing. That required ownership to place a large chunk of the money in escrow.

“They had to cut a funding check of probably $184 million to the league, and it sits there for three years,” an exec from another team said. “In September, they would get that year’s portion back to pay it. The fully guaranteed contract ties up so much cash.”

That’s a big reason why Cleveland ranks No. 1 in cash-over-cap spending from 2020-24, with very little to show for it. By the end of this season, Watson will have received $184 million from the Browns, but only $94 million will have hit the cap. The remaining $136 million in cap charges loom in the future.

“If you look at total committed cash for (2022-24), you have Cleveland spending $250 million more than anyone,” another exec said. “That is unbelievable.”

San Francisco 49ers

  • Cash over cap: 23.3% (2nd)
  • Weighted Wins: 66 (5th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -3 (T-20th)

The 49ers have pushed hard in recent years without having much committed to the quarterback position.

“San Francisco does it a little differently,” a cap manager from another team said. “They push a lot of money out, but they’ve got a ton of cap space. They’re rolling (unused cap space) over, and they’re just staying liquid. If they do have anything flop and they have to pull the rip cord on any of these deals, they can absorb that hit and not wreck their team.”

The equation changed when the 49ers paid quarterback Brock Purdy this offseason.

“Two years from now, it’ll start to get tougher for them,” a different cap manager said.

With the Purdy deal, valued at $53 million per year, San Francisco can expect to commit more cash in 2025 than in any season during its history. This is despite the team trading receiver Deebo Samuel and parting with eight other players who commanded at least $10 million per year from other teams.

“To me, that is having a plan, knowing what is going to be successful and throwing money at it because they believe in the pieces working within their system, and Kyle (Shanahan) is a master of that,” a former GM said.

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Cash over cap: 20.3% (3rd)
  • Weighted Wins: 75 (3rd)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: 0 (T-17th)

The Eagles have dipped to 20th in cash spending this year, showing there will be ebbs and flows along the way, even if the overall trend is toward more spending.

The way Philly spends reflects what some in the league see as an overall mindset.

“Let’s say someone gets hurt and there is a need for a linebacker,” an exec from another team said. “Another team is going to sign a young guy, because if he gets hurt, it’s cheap, there is a split in his deal, no injury settlement. … Whereas Philly just goes and signs the best player, even if he’s older.”

Multiple execs noted that the 2024 Eagles started the same 22 players in Week 1 as they started in the Super Bowl, meaning nearly all their investments worked out.

“That is rare,” one exec said. “The opposite happened to the 49ers, and look what happened to them.”

New Orleans Saints

  • Cash over cap: 18% (4th)
  • Weighted Wins: 44 (16th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -12 (28th)

The Saints are last in cash spending for 2025, which means the long-anticipated reset is finally underway.

“The amount of times they have kicked the can down the road has been unreal,” an exec from another team said.

That made more sense when Drew Brees was the Saints’ quarterback and championships felt within reach. The decision to keep pushing with Derek Carr behind center backfired.

“I looked at them in January and said, ‘Carr is their quarterback next year — they need him there to get under the cap,’” another exec said. “They could not cut or trade him. His number was so big, they needed him to restructure to get under the cap.”

Carr’s retirement this past offseason provided relief when he walked away from $30 million in guaranteed salary for 2025.

“The NFC South is weaker, so you think, ‘We have a chance to win the division,’” another exec said. “But OK, let’s say you win the division. Then what?”

Spenders 5–8Miami Dolphins

  • Cash over cap: 17.8% (5th)
  • Weighted Wins: 47 (14th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -9 (T-25th)

The Dolphins pushed hard in recent seasons without having the postseason success to show for it.

“That is a very high cash-over-cap number for that run,” a cap analyst for another team said.

Miami continues to rank high (ninth) in cash spending this season, but that figures to drop if the Dolphins decide their window for contention has closed. Moving on from Tyreek Hill and his $29 million base salary in 2026 could be one possibility.

“Every team feels like they are in a certain spot with how they spend, how they go after players,” the cap analyst added. “I’m trying to figure out where in that pattern Miami saw itself over the last three years. Because in that division, that conference, you have Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes.

“Is it one of those things where, ‘We think we have to spend this to compete at that level?’”

Dallas Cowboys

  • Cash over cap: 16% (6th)
  • Weighted Wins: 51 (10th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -4 (23rd)

It’s become mainstream to say Cowboys owner Jerry Jones loves waiting until the last minute before signing players because he enjoys the public drama/interest. This doesn’t necessarily jibe with Jones’ history.

“This is a relatively new thing that they have been waiting,” a cap analyst said. “They used to do deals early and do long deals, like with Tyron Smith.”

Contract length has sometimes been an issue for Dallas in negotiations as players and their agents across the league push for shorter deals that let them return to the market earlier. The willingness of Dak Prescott and others, including the recently traded Micah Parsons, to wait for new deals is also part of the equation.

Prescott has used that leverage to sign two massive extensions, which is rarer than one might think for quarterbacks with the same team. The deal he signed in 2021 ranked second to Patrick Mahomes in APY. The deal he signed in 2024 continues to rank first.

The Falcons’ Matt Ryan doubled up similarly with Atlanta, which dealt with a reckoning when the team failed to keep winning. Those Falcons, like these Cowboys, made huge investments in the receiver position as well.

“It’s like with Kirk Cousins — once you get leverage as a QB, you are set,” an exec said.

Buffalo Bills

  • Cash over cap: 15.7% (7th)
  • Weighted Wins: 77 (2nd)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +5 (T-9th)

No one questions the Bills’ willingness to spend under owners Terry and Kim Pegula.

“Terry is more than willing to spend as long as (GM) Brandon (Beane) gives him the reasons,” a former Bills exec said.

Asked after last season whether the Bills would make a big move to help get them past Kansas City in the AFC, Beane said that’s a dangerous mindset because no team is ever one player away. Buffalo’s splash for Von Miller in 2022 (six years, $120 million) as he entered his age-33 season did not pay off.

I’ve compared the Bills to the 1970s Raiders, who fell short year after year despite having great teams, because Pittsburgh and Miami were so dominant then. Those Raiders got over the top after acquiring defensive lineman John Matuszak.

“Buffalo did push, and they had to really pull back last year,” a GM from another team said. “They cut Stefon Diggs and all that kind of stuff. They had to really start chopping.”

Houston Texans

  • Cash over cap: 13.1% (8th)
  • Weighted Wins: 35 (23rd)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -15 (29th)

Houston ranks this high partly because the team paid more than $65 million in cash to Deshaun Watson, Laremy Tunsil and J.J. Watt in 2020, the beginning of the five-year window we selected. The team is closer to league average from 2022-24.

“They are calculated in how they do it,” a cap analyst said. “They are not going to pay (Jonathan) Greenard, but they will go out and get (Danielle) Hunter on a short-term commitment to take advantage of C.J. Stroud’s (cheap) rookie deal.”

Houston recently moved on from Tunsil, the expensive veteran offensive tackle, before signing young corner Derek Stingley to a deal that reset the market by 20 percent in annual average. The Texans have also bucked convention on smaller rookie deals, creating issues for other teams to navigate.

“They are a bit of a wild card,” one exec said. “They do deals that are aggressive. They did the corner on a three-year deal. They are player-friendly. They do their own thing.”

Spenders 9–12Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Cash over cap: 12.5% (9th)
  • Weighted Wins: 69 (4th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +5 (T-9th)

The Buccaneers have eased off the cash accelerator after pushing hard to win it all when Tom Brady was their quarterback. They ranked first in spending in 2021 after re-signing key players following their Super Bowl victory, but no higher than 24th in the past three years, including 27th this season.

“Tampa is opportunistic and smart and kind of fiscally conservative, a well-run operation that works around some constraints from ownership,” one exec said.

Some of those constraints could explain why the Buccaneers, like many teams, have been less likely than Philadelphia to sign early extensions with mid-tier players before those players’ markets are known more clearly.

Baltimore Ravens

  • Cash over cap: 11.2% (10th)
  • Weighted Wins: 63 (7th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +3 (15th)

It’s possible no team is more widely admired not only for its approach, but also for its ability to execute it consistently well.

“It’s one thing to say you want to play the (compensatory) pick game, but you still have to have talent that generates big money in free agency, with somebody in the pipeline to replace that person,” said Mike Sullivan, the Denver Broncos’ director of football administration from 2012-19. “That is what most teams are not in position to do.”

In other words, finding good players is difficult enough. Letting two or three of them leave for substantial deals in free agency, recouping compensatory picks from the league in exchange and then repeating the process?

“That is pretty amazing in terms of scouting,” Sullivan said.

The Ravens ranked last in cash-over-cap spending from 2015-21, rising into the top half of the league more recently. Paying quarterback Lamar Jackson, defensive lineman Justin Madubuike and linebacker Roquan Smith is part of that.

“The owner there (Stephen Bisciotti) is very astute,” a former GM said. “He believes in the system.”

A current GM said he studies the Ravens for everything from practice-squad philosophy to drafting. Should Baltimore be pushing harder and taking more risks to get over the top in the AFC? They tried that with Odell Beckham Jr. a couple of years ago.

“I think they are fine and are well-positioned for the future,” another GM said.

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Cash over cap: 10.7% (11th)
  • Weighted Wins: 28 (30th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -19 (T-31st)

The Jaguars rank even higher in cash-over-cap spending since 2021 (fifth from 2021-24 and third this year). They rank sixth from the bottom in Weighted Wins since 2021, so clearly there is a massive disconnect.

“When you do this, you gotta get the play out of your quarterback,” an exec said. “If you do not, you are screwed.”

Trevor Lawrence is earning $55 million per year, tied for second in the league with Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and Jordan Love.

“The Rams got the play out of their quarterback when they pushed,” the exec said. “The Eagles are getting the play out of their quarterback. San Fran, getting play out of their quarterback. New Orleans was not. Jacksonville has not, except for the one year they got to the playoffs.”

New York Jets

  • Cash over cap: 10.2% (12th)
  • Weighted Wins: 25 (31st)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -19 (T-31st)

The Jets pushed hard with Aaron Rodgers, and it didn’t work out. They rank 29th in cash spending for 2025, which is presumably part of a correction.

“There is a bucket here for teams that have gone for it recently and have succeeded or failed,” an exec said. “New Orleans, Jacksonville, the Jets, Miami and Cleveland got bad returns. Three of them just turned over their whole staffs.”

Coincidentally or not, the Jets’ cash spending spiked after owner Woody Johnson returned to the U.S. after his ambassadorship to the United Kingdom ended in 2021.

Spenders 13–16Denver Broncos

  • Cash over cap: 9.3% (13th)
  • Weighted Wins: 35 (23rd)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -10 (27th)

Denver peaked at 11th in cash-over-cap spending after paying Russell Wilson. That has risen to sixth in 2025, as the Broncos gave lucrative extensions to Courtland Sutton, Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto (now the highest-paid player in team history) before the season.

The Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group is the NFL’s richest by far. Early indications are that ownership plans to pay for the team’s new stadium. That doesn’t necessarily mean the football operations department has a blank check.

“They will spend if Sean (Payton) thinks they have a window of opportunity,” a GM from another team said, “but they have a quarterback deal coming in two years, and they have to prepare for that.”

Detroit Lions

  • Cash over cap: 9% (14th)
  • Weighted Wins: 51 (10th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +4 (T-13th)

The Lions were fifth in cash spending last year, with $85.6 million going to quarterback Jared Goff and another $52 million going to Taylor Decker, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell. They are 26th in cash spending this season.

“Detroit re-did a lot of guys early,” a cap manager from another team said. “The tackle (Sewell), the quarterback. I did not mind it. They spread the payments out.”

Another exec compared the Lions to the Texans.

“They are teams that struggled over time, but have had a resurgence in the past few years, and their spending reflects that,” he said.

Green Bay Packers

  • Cash over cap: 8.9% (15th)
  • Weighted Wins: 63 (7th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +8 (T-6th)

The NFL’s only publicly owned team, the Packers became more aggressive after Brian Gutekunst took over for Ted Thompson as GM in 2018. Much has changed since.

“The bank is bigger than it has been because of the Titletown development business district,” an exec said. “They bought all that land up and sold it.”

Green Bay has continually employed high-priced quarterbacks, including when current starter Jordan Love was on his cheap rookie contract (the Packers held onto Aaron Rodgers and paid him near the top of the market while Love’s deal was cheap).

“They will spend the money,” another exec said. “They have not loved to fund money (by placing it in escrow for future guarantees). They will give the bigger bonuses up front, then bonuses each year without funding it. They do a good job with the structures.”

Green Bay’s deal for Micah Parsons was an obvious exception, requiring the Packers to place more than $60 million in escrow, in addition to another $13 million scheduled to be paid in April 2026 — money that is not coming out of an individual owner’s bank account.

“I do not think most people would think about Green Bay as a big-spending team,” another exec said, “but in a three-year window (2022-24) and a 10-year window, they are about 7 percent cash over cap.”

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Cash over cap: 8.5% (16th)
  • Weighted Wins: 42 (18th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -2 (19th)

The Chargers paid $65 million to Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack and Keenan Allen in 2023 as they tried to make a final push under then-coach Brandon Staley. They have eased off the spending since and now appear set on implementing the Baltimore model under second-year GM Joe Hortiz, who spent much of his career with the Ravens.

Can the Chargers draft well enough to play the comp-pick game as well as Baltimore has played it?

“Historically, they have been conservative, but if Jim Harbaugh continues to progress in Year 2, I think they will open it up a little bit,” a former GM said.

The Chargers rank 21st in dead money in 2025 ($29.7 million) but have typically been near the bottom of the league, despite cutting their losses on a few big-money free-agent busts (JC Jackson, Bryan Bulaga) and moving on from high-priced veterans like Bosa and Allen. Will that change under Hortiz, or does it reflect owner Dean Spanos’ preferred approach?

Spenders 17–20Indianapolis Colts

  • Cash over cap: 8.1% (17th)
  • Weighted Wins: 41 (20th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -3 (T-20th)

When I put together a scatter chart comparing cash-over-cap spending in 2022-24 to the seven years before that, Indy was in the lower-left quadrant with many other family-run teams: Arizona, Las Vegas, New England, Pittsburgh and Tennessee among them, with the Giants, Kansas City, the Chargers and Cincinnati nearby.

A former Colts executive said late owner Jim Irsay made it clear the team would operate by keeping the cash and the cap in alignment.

“We were disciplined, and there were no issues,” this former exec said.

Irsay approved significant spending outlays in free agency this year before his death in May at age 65. The team still ranks only 17th in cash spending for 2025. Indianapolis ranks 30th since 2017, when Chris Ballard became GM, and 25th from 2022-24.

“Some teams are high-variance spenders, but Indy is not one of them,” another exec said.

Spending peaked with a No. 9 ranking in 2021, when the Colts were paying Shaquille Leonard, Carson Wentz, Braden Smith and DeForest Buckner nearly $80 million.

Arizona Cardinals

  • Cash over cap: 7.7% (18th)
  • Weighted Wins: 35 (23rd)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -5 (24th)

Much like other family-owned teams, the Cardinals usually rank below league average in spending, and often much lower, regardless of the year range.

“Arizona will always be there, Indy may always be there, the Giants will always be there, Tennessee will probably always be there,” an exec said. “I would bet a lot of this is philosophical.”

In recent years, some of the Cardinals’ players ranking highest in single-year cash allocation suffered serious injuries (Chandler Jones, D.J. Humphries, Kyler Murray), saw their production drop steeply (DeAndre Hopkins) and/or failed to produce as expected once they were healthy (Murray).

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Cash over cap: 7.1% (19th)
  • Weighted Wins: 58 (9th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +10 (5th)

The Bengals stepped up with new contracts for Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and, to a lesser extent, Trey Hendrickson.

They have ranked lower than 24th in cash-over-cap spending only once since 2015, when they were 30th in 2022.

Their reputation for frugality endures.

“The disparity in how Cincinnati structured those contracts compared to how Philly would have structured them shows the difference in approaches,” an exec said. “Howie (Roseman) would have gotten those cap numbers as low as possible. Cincinnati is sopping up cap space, making it way harder to spend over the cap.”

Burrow ($55 million per year) and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ($51 million) both signed extensions in 2023. Hurts’ first-year cap hit ($6.2 million) was less than a third of Burrow’s ($19.5 million). Chase and Higgins signed for a combined $70 million APY this offseason and count $48.7 million against the cap this season. Eagles receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith signed last offseason for a combined $57 million APY and counted under $20 million against the cap in the first year.

In other words, the Bengals are not structuring major deals with an eye toward finding ways to spend even more money.

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Cash over cap: 6.84% (20th)
  • Weighted Wins: 117 (1st)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +18 (3rd)

The Chiefs blow away the field in Weighted Wins with 117 from 2020-24. Buffalo is next with 77, followed by Philadelphia (75), Tampa Bay (69) and San Francisco (66).

“What I will say about (owner) Clark Hunt is, look at how much more they are spending now, the last three years, versus the previous seven,” an exec said.

The Chiefs ranked near the league average in cash-over-cap spending from 2022-24 (8.7 percent over, which ranked 15th) after ranking 27th at 1.6 percent over from 2015-21. Kansas City’s 10-year deal with quarterback Patrick Mahomes has the feel of a partnership, with Mahomes’ $45 million annual average lagging well behind the $60 million standard set by Dallas’ Dak Prescott, at least for now.

“You could argue that the Chiefs, when they had Alex Smith, could have improved their chances for getting over the top by being more aggressive,” one GM said.

It’s difficult to argue with the results, even if Hunt is known for keeping close watch on the checkbook.

Spenders 21–24Minnesota Vikings

  • Cash over cap: 6.76% (21st)
  • Weighted Wins: 49 (13th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +8 (T-6th)

The Vikings are first in cash spending for 2025 at $343 million, even after turning over their offense to a relatively cheap quarterback in rookie J.J. McCarthy.

Recent big deals to keep Justin Jefferson, Byron Murphy Jr. and Christian Darrisaw, combined with substantial outlays for veteran newcomers Will Fries and Jonathan Greenard, cost more than $115 million in cash this year.

Minnesota even spent big (relatively) for undrafted free agents, committing $2.8 million in guaranteed money for them (the Vikings kept 10 of 23 on their roster entering Week 1, setting league highs for number and percentage kept, per OvertheCap.com).

“They did a nice job signing cut guys in free agency so they can still get comp picks,” an exec said. “Baltimore does a great job of that as well.”

Tennessee Titans

  • Cash over cap: 6.3% (22nd)
  • Weighted Wins: 41 (20th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +2 (16th)

The Titans’ cash-over-cap ranking mirrors their Weighted Wins ranking. Maybe that is not such a terrible thing.

“A big thing is understanding where you are in your life cycle,” an exec said. “I don’t blame New England or Vegas or Tennessee or even Arizona for where they have spent historically. They should be there because they’re not yet in that life cycle.”

In other words, Tennessee could rank higher if the Titans behaved the way Jacksonville has behaved in free agency. But what would that have secured for Tennessee?

Carolina Panthers

  • Cash over cap: 5.9% (23rd)
  • Weighted Wins: 24 (32nd)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -9 (T-25th)

The Panthers no longer seem to be the wild card they were when owner David Tepper seemed to be casting about.

“Carolina spent in free agency in the past, it did not work and they are regrouping now,” an exec said. “They are cleaning it up.”

Doing fewer deals with guarantees in the second year has been one notable difference, even as Carolina still added several contributors in free agency this spring.

“You can see the priority of trying to keep some of their own guys,” the exec added.

Washington Commanders

  • Cash over cap: 5.63% (24th)
  • Weighted Wins: 43 (17th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +7 (8th)

There’s some expectation Washington will move up in cash-over-cap spending under new ownership (the Commanders rank 16th in 2025).

“They did a nice job of changing the place by signing a bunch of guys to short deals, so that if it doesn’t work out, you can move on,” an exec said. “Carolina did the same thing a few years ago but guaranteed the second year. The Commanders remained completely flexible. Loved what they did.”

Washington has traded significant draft capital to acquire aging veterans Laremy Tunsil, Deebo Samuel and Marshon Lattimore, but the long-term cash commitments are minimal. That figures to change for Tunsil, the strongest candidate of the three for an extension.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels will remain relatively cheap for at least this season and next. Early indications suggest he’s on track for a top-of-market extension once he becomes eligible after the 2026 season.

Spenders 25–28New York Giants

  • Cash over cap: 5.6% (25th)
  • Weighted Wins: 30 (28th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: -3 (T-20th)

The Giants are 10th in cash-over-cap spending this season. They were eighth as recently as 2023, their highest since 2016. They obviously have needed a quarterback.

“If that position is not solidified, it is too extreme to say all this other stuff does not matter, but it just has such an outsized impact in our sport,” a GM said.

The Giants’ top four cash commitments this season — $30.3 million to rookie Abdul Carter, $22.8 million to Brian Burns, $22 million to Paulson Adebo and $18 million to Jevon Holland — are on the defensive side of the ball.

“The Giants used to do things the Big Blue Giants way, with a certain type of offensive lineman, a certain type of system,” a former GM said. “The Steelers have always been that way. The Giants have gotten away from that even though they are not spending big.”

Seattle Seahawks

  • Cash over cap: 3.7% (26th)
  • Weighted Wins: 47 (14th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +12 (4th)

Seattle almost never spends for A-list free agents as a matter of philosophy and has re-signed relatively few of its own recent draft choices to expensive deals. That combination helps explain why the Seahawks have dropped from sixth in cash-over-cap spending from 2015-19 to 27th since then.

“Everything is draft, draft, draft for them,” an exec said.

Trading Russell Wilson before the 2022 season also contributed to the recent spending dip, which includes a No. 30 rank in cash spending this season.

“I give a lot of credit to teams that are consistently in contention to win while spending at or around the cap,” a GM said.

The Seahawks are a good example of ownership wealth not necessarily correlating with spending cash over the cap. The team’s late owner, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and his heir, sister Jody Allen, certainly could afford to spend more than the Seahawks have spent recently.

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Cash over cap: 3.3% (27th)
  • Weighted Wins: 36 (22nd)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +5 (T-9th)

Owner Mark Davis has sold 15 percent and 10.5 percent equity stakes in the team to groups that included retired quarterback Tom Brady.

As this trend proliferates in the NFL, I wondered whether these cash infusions might lead to increased spending. Execs in the league generally did not think so.

“Or is the family just going to pocket the money?” one GM asked, referring to the concept in general, not to the Raiders specifically.

Another exec thought there could be cases where the money was needed for other ventures, or that shares were sold simply to enhance the brand, as the case could be with Brady joining the Raiders. Another noted that while most owners publicly want to win and be lauded for spending, privately, they want to win as cheaply as possible.

The Raiders are an interesting case because of the gap between their lucrative stadium deal and Davis’ personal wealth.

“Anecdotally, I’m guessing the Raiders are probably the most profitable team in the NFL because of their stadium deal,” another exec said. “So, even though Davis doesn’t have a lot of money, relative to some other owners, they are actually probably the richest team. It’s not as fungible as how much outside raw wealth an owner has.”

Los Angeles Rams

  • Cash over cap: 3.1% (28th)
  • Weighted Wins: 65 (6th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +22 (1st)

The Rams enjoy the largest gap of any team between their ranking in cash-over-cap spending and Weighted Wins.

“(Owner) Stan Kroenke has always been fiscally conservative, but the head coach (Sean McVay) is such a good driver,” a former GM said. “When he wants to go get something, they usually acquiesce to him, as I see it.”

McVay also appears to be the rare head coach who is a force multiplier.

“If you have one of the few difference-making head coaches, you are going to be more competitive than your roster may say you deserve to be, and when you do that, you probably aren’t as aggressive,” another exec said.

The Rams pick their spots.

“They are probably the most acutely on top of the idea that, when they are peaking in their life cycle, they go for it and spend, and then when they are in a trough, like after that Super Bowl, they were the lowest-spending team in the league,” another exec said.

The Rams were second in cash spending in 2018, when they reached the Super Bowl, then no higher than 19th over the next three years. They went to the Super Bowl again after the 2021 season, peaked at No. 1 in spending the following year, then dipped to 32nd, 31st and 31st over the last three years.

“Now they just have a plethora of young talent,” the exec added. “They are super agile with when they spend and when they don’t. The Rams play the game — they know when to go high, when to go low.”

Spenders 29–32Chicago Bears

  • Cash over cap: 2.17% (29th)
  • Weighted Wins: 29 (29th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: 0 (T-17th)

The Bears ranked second in cash-over-cap spending from 2016-18 early in Ryan Pace’s tenure as GM, thanks partly to a big investment in Khalil Mack. They ranked only 24th in Weighted Wins over that stretch, inching up to 16th over the next two seasons. Chicago ranks last in cash-over-cap spending since 2019, the last three-plus seasons under GM Ryan Poles.

“It’s difficult to spend a lot if your players are bad and your rosters are bad,” an exec said of spending in general, not specifically regarding the Bears. “A lack of good quarterbacks can put you in that range, too. Raiders, Bears, Giants, Washington — they really haven’t had to spend on the most expensive position in the sport.”

The Bears did spend for quarterbacks Jay Cutler and even Mike Glennon during that 2016-18 window. They’ve been cheaper at the position since.

Atlanta Falcons

  • Cash over cap: 2.16% (30th)
  • Weighted Wins: 33 (26th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +4 (T-13th)

The Falcons were first in cash-over-cap spending from 2017-19 as they came off their 2016 Super Bowl season, but they were only 17th in Weighted Wins over that period. Julio Jones was nearing the end as an elite receiver. Quarterback Matt Ryan struggled to prop up the roster around him.

Atlanta then ranked last in cash-over-cap spending from 2020-22 as the roster was reset.

“Quarterback deals really started to get out of hand when Matt Ryan did his (second extension),” an exec said. “They had to move on, and it wrecked them. They’ve been treading water ever since. It’s been a hard one.”

Paying $90 million to Kirk Cousins over the 2024 and 2025 seasons is looking like an expensive disaster for the Falcons. But it’s better than the Browns’ predicament with Watson, a player the Falcons also courted.

“I am not sure I see a clear plan,” another exec said of the Falcons.

New England Patriots

  • Cash over cap: 0.9% (31st)
  • Weighted Wins: 33 (26th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +5 (T-9th)

Some in the league think Tom Brady’s ability to drive success to such an incredible degree for so long lulled the organization into complacency in some other areas, leaving the Patriots in catch-up mode now that Brady (and Bill Belichick) are gone. The team hasn’t had dedicated cap managers with training primarily in contracts, the salary cap and negotiation.

“I’m not sure New England believes that salary-cap management is a strategic area,” one exec said. “They have treated it more like a function.”

The Patriots spent lavishly in free agency this past offseason but still rank only 12th in cash spending for 2025, an indication of how much ground must be made up from a personnel standpoint. No one thinks a good team can be bought in free agency.

“The New England model used to be a bunch of incentives, and they got guys to re-sign because Brady took less for all those years,” another exec said. “Everyone else took less. But free agency this year, they went nuts.”

The Patriots ranked 17th in cash-over-cap spending from 2015-19, Brady’s final five seasons with the team.

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Cash over cap: -1.6% (32nd)
  • Weighted Wins: 50 (12th)
  • Bang-for-buck differential: +20 (2nd)

The Steelers have 51 regular-season victories since 2020, only two fewer than the Eagles’ total. Philadelphia has a 6-0 lead over Pittsburgh in postseason victories over that span, with two Super Bowl appearances and one Lombardi Trophy.

Would the Steelers’ postseason results have been better if Pittsburgh adopted some of Philly’s spending habits and overall aggressiveness toward personnel?

“That’s fair,” one GM said.

There is no consensus answer to the question.

“These teams down here are all just biding their time,” another exec said. “Maybe that is what Pittsburgh has been doing. Maybe they were saying, ‘We are not that good, let’s not waste the money, let’s keep on plugging along until we find a quarterback.’”

Enter Aaron Rodgers, whose arrival timed up with an aggressive move to acquire and pay veteran receiver DK Metcalf. The Steelers are 11th in cash spending this year, their highest ranking in an individual season since they were sixth in 2019, when Ben Roethlisberger was still a viable quarterback. No team has allocated more cap resources to its defense than the Steelers have over the past four seasons.

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Graphics: Thomas Oide
Top illustration: Kelsea Peterson
Photos: Elsa, Patrick McDermott / Getty Images