The NFL's rising cap could make it financially feasible for Washington to use the franchise tag on Kirk Cousins again in 2018.
The cap is at $167 million for 2017 and could hit $180 million in 2018 based on how it has been rising each season.
The third year of the franchise tag for Cousins would be $34.47 million, which is less than 20 percent of the cap.
Cousins is playing the 2017 at the franchise-tag salary of $23.94 million, which is 14.3 percent of the cap.