As we continue to explore the dry but important implementation of the NFL's new salary cap, I point you in the direction of John Clayton's Monday morning mailbag. Clayton describes a new facet of the 2012 cap: The ability of teams to roll over leftover space from the previous year, something that has pushed the available space of some teams to more than $60 million.
Alas, that won't be the case for any NFC North team in 2012. Each of them have rolled over 2011 leftovers, but the new space won't make a dramatic difference on the numbers we discussed last week. Again, it's important to stress that the NFL cap situation remains fluid, and the numbers will change between now and the start of the new league year on March 13. But let's give you an idea of what the rollover means for NFC North teams:
Chicago Bears
Last week's figure: $101.8
Rollover: About $7.7 million
What it means: The Bears are projected to have about $25 million in cap space.
Detroit Lions
Last week's figure: $122.8 million
Rollover: About $1.3 million
What it means: The Lions are very close to the projected cap number of about $120 million.
Green Bay Packers
Last week's figure: $115.3 million
Rollover: About $5.8 million
What it means: The Packers are about $10 million -- $11 million below the cap.
Minnesota Vikings
Last week's figure: $115.3 million
Rollover: About $1.9 million
What it means: That rollover is projected to be mitigated by a reconciliation (don't ask) that will basically leave the Vikings where they were: About $5 million under the cap.