Update: 2012 NFL Salaries by Team now available

The 2011 NFL payrolls by team seem to be one of the hardest things to find on the Internet, and for good reason. The rules behind how much NFL teams can and are required to pay their players has changed in each of the last three years, with an uncapped year last year, and a new CBA this year. The rules will change one more time during the 2013 season, the first year teams are required to spend 90% of the salary cap.

This turmoil with NFL team by team payrolls is probably a big reason USA Today, my go to source on league payroll information, stopped tracking the NFL after the 2009 season. I have two upcoming NFL analyses which require the use of 2011 payroll by team information, so I spent some time compiling the numbers. One of the biggest search engine optimization lessons I have ever learned is that if something is too hard to find online, you should post it yourself. So here you have it, the most straightforward chart you can find online with 2011 NFL payrolls by team.

My source for all of these numbers is NFL analyst, Jason La Canfora, who updated each team’s salary cap space going into the 2011 season.

Team | Total salary
Minnesota Vikings | $123,553,646
Philadelphia Eagles| $123,382,065
Atlanta Falcons | $122,188,308
Houston Texans | $121,904,836
St. Louis Rams | $121,835,786
Baltimore Ravens | $121,145,293
New Orleans Saints | $121,042,487
Carolina Panthers | $120,884,226
Detroit Lions | $119,379,953
Pittsburgh Steelers | $118,875,502
Miami Dolphins | $118,447,435
New York Giants | $118,357,838
San Diego Chargers | $117,510,200
Tennessee Titans | $117,037,579
Dallas Cowboys | $116,700,139
Oakland Raiders | $115,063,751
Indianapolis Colts | $114,259,317
New York Jets | $113,688,194
New England Patriots | $113,156,066
Washington Redskins | $109,474,372
Green Bay Packers | $109,198,003
Arizona Cardinals | $105,870,949
Seattle Seahawks | $104,887,632
San Francisco 49ers | $104,604,488
Denver Broncos | $102,627,531
Chicago Bears | $101,032,032
Cleveland Browns | $96,659,589
Buffalo Bills | $96,114,524
Kansas City Chiefs | $93,446,708
Cincinnati Bengals | $93,268,320
Tampa Bay Buccaneers | $92,988,777
Jacksonville Jaguars | $92,768,120

I hope you found this chart helpful, and keep an eye out for my upcoming NFL payroll per television household data visualization and NFL cost per win infographic.

Signed,
Ryan Sleeper+, Online Sports Marketing Guy