Hard Cap Tracker

Teams are hard-capped at the 1st or 2nd apron when they perform any of the following:

TP-MLE Exceeded: Sign one or more players using the Mid-Level Exception and the sum exceeds the taxpayer MLE limit. ($5,685,000 for the 2025-26 season)
TP-MLE Length Exceeded: Sign a player using the Mid-Level Exception and the length exceeds the taxpayer MLE limit (2 years).
MLE Trade: Use the taxpayer MLE to acquire a player in a trade
MLE Waivers: Use the taxpayer MLE to acquire a player through waivers
BAE: Sign, trade for, or claim a player on waivers using the Bi-Annual Exception
S&T: Acquire a player through a sign-and-trade
Trade Salary Acquired: In a trade, the team acquired salary
Waived & Signed: Signs a player who was waived during the regular season and whose pre-waiver salary was higher than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception
Past-Season TPE: Uses a traded player exception generated during the previous off-season or regular season

Any MLE: Sign a player using any Mid-Level Exception
Trade Aggregate: Aggregates two or more players in a trade for salary-matching purposes
Cash Traded: Sends out cash in a trade
S&T Room Used: Sends out a player via sign-and-trade and uses that player’s outgoing salary to take back a contract
S&T Exc. Used: Sends out a player via sign-and-trade and uses the resulting traded player exception to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim

First apron:

Second apron: