This is one of my favorite blogs to write all year. Based on Sportico’s NFL valuations, the total value of all NFL teams combined is a hair under $300 billion dollars. If the NFL were publicly traded, that would make it the 42nd most valuable public company in the country – ahead of IBM, Verizon, and Disney.
Truth be told, this is still wayyyyyyyy under what the actual value of the NFL would be when you factor in the league office and the league-wide assets like television contracts.
Spain just won the World Cup with a quiet dominance. They constantly possessed the ball and only gave up one goal in the entire tournament. They were a great team from top to bottom in all aspects of the game.
Their NFL comparison: the early 2000s Patriots. Those Pats teams were led by great defenses. In their Super Bowl-winning seasons of 2001, 2003, and 2004, those Pats teams ranked 6th, 2nd, and 1st, respectively, in points allowed.
Offensively, those Patriots teams weren’t dominant but were solid, did not make mistakes, and came through when they needed to.
Bonus NFL comparison: France was like the early 2000s Indianapolis Colts led by Peyton Manning. They were so much fun to watch and put up unreal numbers with their plethora of offensive superstars. But when France/the Colts faced Spain/the Patriots in the playoffs, the better team stifled the high-powered offense and won with great defense and timely scoring.
The Seattle Seahawks were recently sold for $9.6 billion, a record for an NFL franchise and the second-highest price ever paid for a professional sports team.
Below is how CNBC, Forbes, and Sportico most recently valued the Seahawks in their annual franchise rankings:
As we’ve seen with other sports teams, the price a new owner actually pays for a franchise usually far exceeds the “book value” due to many factors.
First off, there are only 32 NFL franchises and they don’t come up for sale often. If you want to join the club, you need to pay up. In the Seahawks’ case, the buyer is a West Coast technology billionaire and his family. The opportunity to buy a premier West Coast NFL team that is close to home is rare.
Another big driver is the guaranteed hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that teams share every year, mainly from the TV contracts in place. Each team earned $432 million in national NFL revenue in 2024. This does not include the individual revenue that teams made on their own like concessions, parking, and team sponsorships. In 2024, the Seahawks made $624-$638 million in total revenue according to Forbes and CNBC. Luckily for NFL owners, the NFL can opt out of its current TV deal after the 2029 season and make even more money from new TV deals, which will continue to pit legacy networks like FOX and CBS versus streaming and tech giants like Netflix and Amazon. Not only is the NFL currently raking in money, but it looks like it will continue to do so and team valuations will keep going up.
Lastly, in an era dominated by AI and other technology trends, the NFL – and sports in general – remains a reliable safe haven. People genuinely love their NFL teams. Fans will continue to watch games, buy jerseys, and follow stars like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. Beyond that, the NFL is a uniting force for fans from across the country and the globe.
All of these factors push the true value of NFL teams to a much higher number than standard valuations can reflect.
I recently hit 100 episodes on my podcast 15 Minute Blitz. Over the nearly two years of doing the podcast, here are three of the biggest lessons I have learned firsthand. I think these can apply to almost anything in life.
One of the hardest parts of any new journey is simply starting. This is especially true if you are the one holding yourself responsible and don’t have a parent, boss, or mentor pushing you to start. You will always come up with reasons or excuses of why you aren’t ready yet but totally will be ready in a day, week, or month.
You’ll never be 100% ready. There will always be fear and doubt. Start anyway.
Sometimes a random wave of motivation will surge inside of you and help start a journey. On Monday, you work out for the first time in two years and feel really good about yourself. You tell yourself you are going to work out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the indefinite future. Wednesday comes in the blink of an eye. You’re sore from your workout Monday, your motivation is completely gone, and you’re finding every excuse to skip Wednesday’s workout.
This is when you need to power through and build the mental stamina to chase your dreams and goals. Motivation is overrated. It is fleeting and unreliable. Being able to show up even when you aren’t “motivated” that day is invaluable. There is a reason an old saying in the NFL is that the best ability is availability.
In life, showing up consistently and giving the best effort you can give that day puts you ahead of the majority of people.
It is important to enjoy what you do in life, whether it be work or a hobby. Being passionate about what you do leads to loving what you do so much that you need to start the journey and show up consistently. It pushes you through tough times, feeling under the weather, and moments of self-doubt that everyone experiences.
Passion doesn’t mean you will always feel motivated or love what you are doing every moment. But it keeps fuel in the tank to push you forward.
Beyond these lessons, I just want to say thank you. Whether you constantly listen to the podcast because you enjoy the show or listen once and think it’s the worst thing you’ve ever heard, I appreciate you.
College football purists, I have some bad news for you all. You all complain about how bad Notre Dame’s schedule is, but it really isn’t that bad. Especially when compared to other big-time programs.
Three Big Ten teams:
While Purdue has been poor for a long time, Michigan State and Wisconsin are historically strong programs that are currently in down cycles. Notre Dame scheduled them expecting quality opponents. Yes, these three games are not going to be incredibility difficult but… that comes with a downside for the Big Ten.
Everyone loves to brag about how good the Big Ten is without bringing up how poor the depth of the conference is. Take a look at the conference standings. They have some legitimately terrible programs that shouldn’t be considered Power Four schools.
People have no issue saying the Big Ten opponents Notre Dame are playing are bad. But they don’t keep that same narrative when discussing how the good Big Ten programs benefit from the lack of depth in the conference and the number of easy games said lack of depth provides.
Six ACC matchups:
Four are against average or below-average teams, but one game is against Miami, who is one of the best teams in the country. And the other is against an SMU team that made the playoffs two years ago and is a pretty good program right now.
BYU:
BYU nearly made the playoff last year and was actually ranked as one of the Top 12 teams in the country in the final CFP rankings. They missed out on the technicalities involving conference champions and at least one Group of Five team making the playoff.
Two non–Power Four games:
Rice is a true patsy game but Navy is one of the best non-Power Four schools in the country and way better than most cupcake non-Power Four games other programs play.
Verdict:
Notre Dame’s schedule is by no means a gauntlet, but it is harder than people want to admit. All told they play 10 Power Four games – 3 of which are truly quality opponents that will likely be ranked to start the year – and one of the best non-Power Four teams in the country.
Non–Power Four games:
Penn State faces three absolute cupcakes for its non-conference slate.
Key Big Ten matchups:
Washington, Michigan, and USC are good programs but not currently elite.
Six other Big Ten games:
These are largely against average or poor teams, reflecting the conference’s top-heavy nature.
Verdict:
Despite the Big Ten’s prestige, Penn State’s schedule has plenty of soft spots. If the Nittany Lions finish with the same record as Notre Dame, people will likely try to say they deserve to be in over ND due to “playing in the Big Ten.” Which, in this case translates to playing 3 tough games all year – the same number as Notre Dame.
Non-conference games:
Two against weak non–Power Four opponents to start the year. But… Notre Dame also appears on the schedule, giving Miami a big-time non-conference test.
One tough ACC matchup:
They are playing a Clemson program that had a down year, but I believe is still a quality opponent.
Eight other ACC games:
These are against average or below-average competition. Virginia Tech might improve under James Franklin, but results remain to be seen. And FSU is so volatile, they could be good this year or awful.
Verdict:
Miami has what looks like 2 tough games. I don’t hear people complaining about their schedule.
The common perception that Notre Dame’s schedule is soft doesn’t fully reflect the reality. If these three programs finish with the same record, it’s worth remembering that their strength of schedule is more similar than people will initially think.
Managing the NFL salary cap is a complex puzzle. Successful franchises like the Eagles and Rams are praised for their ability to “manipulate” the cap, while less aggressive teams, such as the Bengals, are often criticized for failing to take advantage of these tools. In this post, we’ll break down the main methods teams use to maximize their financial flexibility and stay competitive.
—
1. Contract Incentives
One of the most common ways teams manage the salary cap is through contract incentives. Incentives come in two categories:
The NFL determines these categories based solely on a player’s prior-year performance, regardless of circumstances like injuries.
Example:
This allows teams to manage when cap hits occur, creating flexibility between seasons.
—
2. Contract Restructures
Teams often restructure contracts to push cap hits into future seasons. Here’s how it works:
Result:
The player typically prefers this since they get most of the money upfront as a lump sum. Teams can spread out the bonus over a maximum of 5 years.
—
3. Void Years
When a player is in the final year of his contract, teams can still spread out bonuses by adding “void years.” These are fake contract years used purely for cap accounting.
Example:
When the contract ends, the remaining bonus owed in the void years becomes dead money against the cap immediately. Even with void years, teams can still spread out the bonus over a maximum of 5 years.
—
4. Post-June 1 Designation
Cutting or trading a player after June 1 allows teams to split dead money over two seasons:
This approach gives teams short-term cap relief, which is especially useful for contending teams.
—
5. Cap Rollover
Cap space can also roll over to the following year:
This strategy is ideal for struggling franchises that want to save money for future free-agent spending sprees.
—
The Big Picture
Salary cap manipulation is a balancing act. Successful teams push cap charges into the future to maximize their current rosters, but eventually, dead money catches up.
With all the talk around tech companies and streamers starting to get the rights to sports, I wanted to break down where each tech giant stands in terms of notable sports rights. All right below are for the United States, unless other wise noted.
Amazon via Prime Video
Apple via AppleTV
Google via YouTube TV
Netflix
Teams need to be more willing to trade their star players, especially if the team in question is going nowhere. On Tuesday’s Podcast I talked about what the Cowboys have already gotten as a direct result of the Micah Parsons Trade:
And then two other players the Cowboys have gotten that they may not have had the draft pick or cap space to get had they kept Micah:
Trading one player has helped them get a good IDL, a great IDL, and a good Edge rusher who are known commodities. Downs and Lawrence are rookies so they are TBD, but Downs may be the best player from the 2026 Draft. And Lawrence joins a stacked defensive line where he will have time to develop as a first round pick.
All in all, the Cowboys will absolutely take those five players over just Micah Parsons. It’s a lesson for all front offices to prioritize getting as many good players as possible, rather than a few great ones.
Another recent trade that illustrates this is the Matthew Stafford – Jared Goff trade. This has been a rare win-win trade. The Rams got their QB and won a Super Bowl while still being contenders.
The Lions were likely going nowhere with Stafford and got their own Franchise QB, who was much younger. They were also able to build their roster with the following players as a direct result of the trade:
In addition, the Lions drafted a whole slew of great young players in the subsequent drafts after the trade, which they may not have gotten if not for the trade.
The Lions will be better in the long term with Goff, Gibbs, LaPorta, and Williams than they would be with just Stafford.
A final one to mention. The Chiefs traded WR Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins. The Chiefs proceeded to win back to back Super Bowls and make a third in a row. As a result of the trade, the Chiefs got:
McDuffie was one of the best players for the Chiefs on all three of those Super Bowl winning/appearing teams. The Chiefs just traded him for multiple picks, including a very talented first round DT from Clemson named Peter Woods, who could be a star for the next decade.
Rice played a big role in the 2023 Super Bowl victory and is the best WR on the team right now.
While getting rid of Hill, they also got addition by subtraction. Not only did they save a ton of cap room, but Hill has had multiple off-the-field incidents that the Chiefs no longer have to deal with.
Don’t be afraid to trade your stars.
Edge rushers are overvalued. Don’t get me wrong, they are important to an NFL team, but a bad value position when you look at how much teams win with the highest paid edge rushers.
Edge rusher is the flashy defensive position that racks up gaudy stats and commands high salaries. But does that contribute to winning?
Of the past ten Super Bowl Champions, just 2 had an edge rusher in the top ten in cap hit for their position. 6 teams didn’t even have a player in the top 20.
| Team | Highest Cap Hit Rank of Edge Rusher On The Team |
| 2025 Seattle Seahawks | 18th |
| 2024 Philadelphia Eagles | 21st |
| 2023 Kansas City Chiefs | 33rd |
| 2022 Kansas City Chiefs | 6th |
| 2021 Los Angles Rams | 24th |
| 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 9th |
| 2019 Kansas City Chiefs | 34th |
| 2018 New England Patriots | 44th |
| 2017 Philadelphia Eagles | 16th |
| 2016 New England Patriots | 57th |
Paying star edge makes it hard to fill other positions with quality players. The approach of building a strong, well-rounded defense rather than focusing on a single high-paid edge rusher has proven successful. While drafting a great edge rusher can be beneficial, it’s not necessary to sacrifice significant capital to draft, sign, or trade for a star edge rusher. Teams should aim to find solid, reliable players who can contribute without breaking the bank.
Honorable Mention:
Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts – Philadelphia Eagles
Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence – Jacksonville Jaguars
