this is an older trick, not sure if it will still work. you can offer a player a 7-year contract and, because of how it is structured, you will have more cap room. you can do that to everyone and you will have much more cap room. the trick is to do it every year, so you always pay just the first year, which is much less money compared to the others. also, it's okay to release some players, you can replace them with rookies and free agents. you don't want to keep everyone because then you won't have room for other players. just re-sign only who you really need.