NFL Salary Cap Given $12 Million Raise

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL's salary cap for 2016 will be $155.27 million, an increase of nearly $12 million.

The NFL Players Association confirmed the figure Sunday, and will release the franchise and transition tag numbers on Monday. Free agency begins March 9, but teams must apply those tags by Tuesday.

Since the 10-year labor agreement was reached in 2011, the cap has risen more than $35 million per team.

This year's increase is based on several economic factors, including a new Thursday night TV package that includes both CBS and NBC. Other league revenues also exceeded projections in 2015.

Adding to the number last week was an arbitrator's ruling that the NFL had misplaced certain revenues that should have been applied to the cap. That put another $50 million overall into the cap.