For the sake of this installment, we have designated teams that are less than $5M under the cap in RED. These are teams that have little money to sign free agents. Teams in BLACK, which are between $5M and $10M under the cap, are teams that look to be in pretty good shape in terms of adding more veterans without having to take drastic measures. Teams in GREEN are teams that are well under the cap and should have plenty of room to sign free agents.

With the latest CBA, which was finalized late in the Summer of 2011, the salary cap for 2011 was set at approximately $120,375,000. The projections for the 2012 figure is $120.6 Million. Note that last season teams were allowed to borrow up to $3 Million against future capped years. Thus, the cap number for 2011 was really over $123 M. Likewise, in 2012 teams may borrow up to $2 Million against future years. Hence the real cap for 2012 is likely to be close to $123 Million. For the purposes of this exercise, the numbers listed below are based on the $120.6 Million estimated cap.

Keep in mind that these numbers remain tentative — and are changing on a daily basis. These “unofficial” figures are approximate as of March 7, 2012 and were compiled courtesy of the NFLPA and other various media sources. In some cases, these numbers include the cap adjustments for LTBE (Likely to Be Earned) incentives that were never achieved last season and have been credited against the 2012 cap. Note that teams like the Cardinals that are significantly over the cap have until March 13 to comply.

1 Cincinnati Bengals: $49900000

2 Denver Broncos $44700000

3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers $42700000

4 Jacksonville Jaguars $40600000

5 Kansas City Chiefs $32500000

6 Washington Redskins $31100000

7 Buffalo Bills $30800000

8 Seattle Seahawks $29800000

9 Tennessee Titans $28100000

10 Chicago Bears $22600000

11 San Francisco 49ers $21800000

12 Cleveland Browns $17400000

13 New England Patriots $16200000

14 San Diego Chargers $14900000

15 Baltimore Ravens $14450000

16 Miami Dolphins $11800000

17 Indianapolis Colts $11600000

18 Pittsburgh Steelers $10500000

19 Philadelphia Eagles $9,600,000.00

20 Minnesota Vikings $7,900,000.00

21 NY Jets $7,100,000.00

22 Atlanta Falcons $5,800,000.00

23 Green Bay Packers $5,400,000.00

24 New Orleans Saints $5,200,000.00

25 Dallas Cowboys $4,700,000.00

26 St. Louis Rams $1,200,000.00

27 NY Giants $-3,800,000.00

28 Houston Texans $-4,700,000.00

29 Carolina Panthers $-5,300,000.00

30 Oakland Raiders $-7,400,000.00

31 Detroit Lions $-11,500,000.00

32 Arizona Cardinals $-16,400,000.00