I feel the cap is “real” but good FOs make good decisions on who to invest in and when to invest in the them. Teams that struggle for I don’t know 27 years tend to make poor investments. Poor in either who they invest in or when. Gallup comes to mind as a bad investment. So does Steele for the same reason.
An example is Green Bay. They win a Super Bowl with Rodgers but felt it wasn’t going yo happen again. They sucked it up and are getting out of the debt while building for the future. They’re learning if they should invest in Love in the future.
Denver Broncos are an example of investing in the wrong player, Russel Wilson, at the wrong time, as he’s declining. Their future looks bleak.