When can teams exceed the Upper Limit?
From the last day of training camp until June 30, the only time teams may exceed the Upper Limit is if a player has a LTI and replacing the player would put the team over the Upper Limit. In past years, teams could also exceed the Upper Limit due to performance bonuses in a player’s contract as long as the team didn’t exceed the Upper Limit by more than 7.5% [the “Performance Bonus Cushion”] … meaning that after stripping out bonuses, no team could exceed the Upper Limit. For the 2008-09 season, the Upper Limit of $56.7 million is a hard cap – the 7.5% allowance is not allowed, and thus no team can carry over any overage to the 2009-10 season. In addition, from July 1 to the last day of training camp, teams may exceed the Upper Limit by no more than 10%. For 2008-09, the absolute highest teams can go during the offseason (from July 1 to the end of training camp) is $62.37 million. Players who finished the prior season on LTIR are excluded for the purpose of offseason calculations. A
