An NFL source has told Scout.com that the 2006 salary cap will be announced on Monday, February 27. 2006's cap, according to this source, will be $95 million. This is on the high end of what was expected - most estimates were anywhere from $92 to $95 million.
Atlanta Falcons GM Rich McKay, who co-chairs the Competition Committee and has long been a major player in league matters, talked to the media on Saturday about the possible extension to the Collective Bargaining Agreement that would greatly affect how cap money is spent.
McKay said that the teams remain hopeful that there will be an extension, despite Player’s Association head Gene Upshaw's recent comments that agents should negotiate as if there will be no extension. McKay also said that without a new deal, the March 3 free agency deadline will not be pushed back.
McKay said that it would be "extremely difficult" to operate without an extension.
Without a cap, McKay said that the "tricks of the trade" will all drop into this year's cap, affecting cap room. Contracts would only be able to be four years long and he thinks trades will be less likely because of accelerated bonuses. He also expects free agency would be slower.
But in late-breaking news on this matter, Seahawks.NET has been informed by our Scout.com source at the Combine that members of one NFL organization are telling their staff that there is a very strong chance that the CBA will be extended by the deadline. Significant recent progress has been made, according to our source.
