NFL sets 2014 salary cap at $133 million

It's official: The 2014 NFL salary cap is set at $133 million. Jason La Canfora reports that the NFL informed teams of this news on Friday evening, confirming that the salary cap is indeed much higher than originally anticipated.

Last year, the salary cap was $123 million. Going into 2014, the expectation was for an increase of around $3-4 million, but over the course of February, that projection kept going up. Recently, the number jumped to $130 million, and then it got up to $132 million. Now we know that for 2014, the cap is actually going to be $133 million, and Adam Schefter reports that it could break $140 million next year and $150 million in 2016.

As it stands right now, the Detroit Lions have around $10.7 million in cap room, according to Over the Cap. Their cap limit is actually $134.47 million thanks to a small carryover from last year, so they can go beyond the $133 million number.

It's important to keep in mind that some of the Lions' cap space will have to be set aside for restricted and exclusive-rights free agents and their rookie pool. However, the Lions have enough room right now that they should be able to make some moves in free agency, even if Ndamukong Suh doesn't get a long-term deal before the league year opens on March 11. Don't expect a big spending spree or anything like that, but the Lions should have an opportunity to take care of some of their major needs during free agency.