Salary cap skyrockets in NFL to $255.4M

The NFL’s salary cap for 2024 will be $255.4 million, up a record $30.6 million from last year.

The cap has gone from $198.2 million in 2020 to $182.5 million in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic. It increased to $208.2 million in 2022 and $224.8 million last year.

“The unprecedented $30 million increase per club in this year’s salary cap is the result of the full repayment of all amounts advanced by the clubs and deferred by the players during the Covid pandemic as well as an extraordinary increase in media revenue for the 2024 season,” the league said in a statement.

Teams are heading into next week’s NFL combine and preparing for the free agency period to open March 13 with an opportunity to spend more freely.

The Steelers released veteran center Mason Cole on Friday, creating nearly $5 million in salary cap space. Cole had one year left on the threeyear, $15.75 million deal he signed in spring of 2022.

Baseball: The bronze cleats from a Jackie Robinson statue that was cut at the ankles and stolen last month will be donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

MMA: The Professional Fighters League is set to become the first major MMA promotion to hold a card in Saudi Arabia. Mike Tyson will be on hand Saturday to present the winner of three title fights in the inaugural PFL vs. Bellator: Champs card with a custom championship belt.

NHL: The Coyotes put forward Adam Ruzicka on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract. The move comes after Ruzicka posted to social media a video of a himself with a white powder appearing to be cocaine and a credit card on a counter . ... JeanGuy Talbot, one of 12 Canadiens players to win five consecutive Stanley Cups from 1956-60, has died. He was 91. The Canadiens announced Talbot’s death Friday after media outlets reported the news.