Systems and methods for PDCCH monitoring in NR systems. The UE provides to a serving cell UE capability information indicating a capability of the UE to monitor PDCCH. The UE capability information indicates a carrier aggregation capability larger than multiple serving cells and has a maximum number indication for a maximum number of PDCCH candidates that the UE can monitor per span. The serving cell transmits an RRC message to a UE in response to the UE capacity information. The RRC message has a per-slot and/or per-span indication to monitor PDCCHs on the serving cell for a maximum number of PDCCH candidates and non-overlapping CCEs. The UE monitors PDCCH candidates and, in the event that a span contains larger than a maximum number of PDCCH candidates or non-overlapping CCEs across multiple served cells, determines whether to monitor a particular PDCCH candidate in the span.