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A salary cap exists in the NFA. All owners are required to maintain their respective franchises at or below the salary cap, which this year has been raised to $109,000,000 (i.e., the
projected 2007-2008 NFL salary cap). Not all of the money designated as salary cap funds has to be used; but any such remaining funds can be utilized in the acquisition of personnel throughout the season as long as (1) the integrity of the team as far as player position breakdown is maintained and (2) the salary cap is upheld. In addition, all owners are required to maintain their respective franchises at or above the salary floor, which this year has been raised to $92,868,000. This is the minimum amount of money that a franchise may spend at any point throughout the season.
All 2007 NFA player salaries are based on performance statistics from the 2004-2005, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 NFL seasons. The translation of the performance statistics includes a baseline salary for a constituent year, below which a player cannot go. The baseline is $570,000 for 2004, $605,000 for 2005, and $722,000 for 2006. Those players that were rookies last year will be assigned a base salary of the corresponding season for the benefit of consistent calculations. Rookies this year will be assigned a base salary of $772,000 for 2007.
A franchise player is a player that a franchise designates as a carry-over from season to the next. In so doing, each player kept will also signify a loss of a second-round draft pick on Saturday, August
25, 2007. That player is offered the average of the top five calculated salaries for the upcoming draft at the player’s position or 120 percent of that player’s calculated salary for the upcoming draft, whichever is greater. If a franchise player is released, that player’s salary is maintained at the franchise tag level.
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