I'm going to use 2018 as an example because it was so extreme
The Giants had the 2nd overall pick and selected Saquon Barkley.
Indianapolis traded a first-round selection (3rd) to the Jets in exchange for the Jets' first-round selection (6th), two second-round selections (37th and 49th), and a second-round selection in 2019.
Tampa Bay traded first- and seventh-round selections (7th and 255th) to Buffalo in exchange for Buffalo's first-round selection (12th) and two second-round selections (53rd and 56th).
Green Bay traded a first-round selection (14th) to New Orleans in exchange for New Orleans's first- and fifth-round selections (27th and 147th) and a first-round selection in 2019.
Philadelphia traded first- and fourth-round selections (32nd and 132nd) to Baltimore in exchange for Baltimore's second- and fourth-round selections (52nd and 125th) and a second-round selection in 2019.
New England traded a second-round selection (51st) to Chicago in exchange for Chicago's fourth-round selection (105th) and second-round selection in 2019.
No. 105: New England → Cleveland (D). New England traded a fourth-round selection (105th) to Cleveland in exchange for Cleveland's fourth- and sixth-round selections (114th and 178th)
New England traded a fourth-round selection (114th) to Detroit in exchange for Detroit's third-round selection in 2019.
It doesn't perfectly work but the idea would be to punt on the 2nd overall pick and get back a haul of epic proportions, setting yourself up for future success
How salary cap rollover works in the NFL, unused salary cap space does roll over to the next year. This rule was introduced as part of the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Teams can carry over any remaining cap space from one season to the next, allowing them to accumulate additional room under the salary cap for future years. However, there are a few key points to note:
Carryover Limit: The full amount of unused cap space can be carried over without a specific limit, but it must be reported to the NFL by the team before the start of the new league year (typically in mid-March).
Cap Space Calculation: The rollover amount is based on the team's adjusted salary cap minus their total expenditures for that year (including salaries, bonuses, and other costs).
Strategic Use: Teams often use this rule to plan for big free-agent signings or contract extensions in future seasons, giving them flexibility in roster management.
For example, if a team has $10 million in unused cap space at the end of the 2024 season, that $10 million can be added to their 2025 salary cap, on top of the league's base cap figure for that year. This has become a common strategy for teams to maintain financial flexibility.
In the NFL, there is no strict maximum limit on how much unused salary cap space a team can roll over to the next year. The amount that can be carried over is simply the difference between a team's adjusted salary cap for the current year and their actual spending, as long as it's properly reported to the league. This means that, theoretically, a team could roll over a very large amount if they significantly underspend their cap in a given season.
How It Works:
The NFL salary cap is set annually (e.g., for 2025, it's projected to be around $270-280 million per team, though the exact figure is finalized closer to the new league year).
Teams can also have an adjusted cap, which includes rollover from the previous year plus certain adjustments (like incentives or penalties).
If a team spends less than their adjusted cap in a season, the unused portion rolls over to the next year in full.
Practical "Maximum":
While there's no hard cap on rollover, the practical maximum is limited by:
The Salary Cap Floor: The NFL CBA requires teams to spend at least 89% of the salary cap (averaged over a four-year period). If a team consistently underspends too much, they could violate this rule and face penalties, such as forfeiting the unspent money to the players' union.
Roster Requirements: Teams must field a competitive roster (53 players), and paying players too little risks losing talent or violating the minimum salary requirements, which rise each year (e.g., $795,000 for rookies in 2024, likely higher in 2025).
Market Dynamics: Spending far below the cap is rare because teams compete for free agents and need to retain key players, which often pushes spending closer to or beyond the cap with creative accounting (e.g., restructuring contracts).
Hypothetical Maximum:
In an extreme scenario, if a team spent the absolute minimum required (say, 89% of a $280 million cap in 2025, or about $249.2 million), they could theoretically roll over the remaining 11%, or roughly $30.8 million. However, in practice, teams rarely carry over more than $20-30 million because they tend to use most of their cap space each year. For instance:
In recent years, teams like the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars have rolled over significant amounts (e.g., $50+ million in some cases) due to rebuilding phases or low spending, but this is an outlier, not the norm.
So, while there's no fixed ceiling on rollover, the maximum is effectively constrained by league rules and competitive realities rather than an explicit limit.
Again, you punt on the year and set yourself up for a future free agent haul like nobody has ever seen