Dead Money

[Mike in SW-MO]

"however, they're showing Russell Wilson with a cap number for the Broncos at $53m all by himself, but he doesn't count as dead cap? So I'm not sure what that's about."

Probably because it is a post-June 1 cut designation so he is technically still on the team & is not dead money for another month. My guess.

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by Mike in SW-MO

"however, they're showing Russell Wilson with a cap number for the Broncos at $53m all by himself, but he doesn't count as dead cap? So I'm not sure what that's about."

Probably because it is a post-June 1 cut designation so he is technically still on the team & is not dead money for another month. My guess.

Believe you are correct.

[Balto]

Great post! I love all the numbers as well.

I do however suggest you go look at “saved” cap as well. While dead money is important, it’s just half of the actual calculation to get the “net” amount.

Dead cap - saved cap = Net cap hit/saved

And like DJ said, some teams just give out contracts with a couple extra years of dead money because it saves them cap now! Right or wrong the net is still the same and should not be counted.

[displacedinMN]

purely amazing and gross at the same time.

The Broncos will be broke for a long time

It proves Herschel Walker type deals never work.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

The Bills have a functional dead cap of $71.3m and are paying Von Miller $15m. That's $87m that they're effectively flushing down the toilet this year.

That's... unfathomable levels of cap destruction.

Man, the Bills were REALLY through with Stephon Diggs. Would love to know exactly what happened between Diggs and the team that they would trade him to a contender and still eat over 31 million worth of cap hit. They wanted him the hell out of there.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Man, the Bills were REALLY through with Stephon Diggs. Would love to know exactly what happened between Diggs and the team that they would trade him to a contender and still eat over 31 million worth of cap hit. They wanted him the hell out of there.

That money was gonna be on the cap next season anyway.

Ultimately they were willing to eat a little shit this year to save $19 million over the next 2 seasons (the base salary they avoided this year).

If you view it in the context of them treating 2024 as a stepback season to clean up the books (Miller should be off in 2025 as well) before re-loading again, it's a pretty smart move.

The Bills plan seems really clear at this point - they're not trying real hard for 2024. They're trying to plan for life after the Bengals start losing WRs and Kelce ages out. They pulled the chute on what appeared to be a 3-year window around the Von Miller deal and are looking to set up a new one.

It's really not a bad plan.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

That money was gonna be on the cap next season anyway.

Ultimately they were willing to eat a little shit this year to save $19 million over the next 2 seasons (the base salary they avoided this year).

If you view it in the context of them treating 2024 as a stepback season to clean up the books (Miller should be off in 2025 as well) before re-loading again, it's a pretty smart move.

The Bills plan seems really clear at this point - they're not trying real hard for 2024. They're trying to plan for life after the Bengals start losing WRs and Kelce ages out. They pulled the chute on what appeared to be a 3-year window around the Von Miller deal and are looking to set up a new one.

It's really not a bad plan.

That makes sense when it's spelled out like that.

My brain went full TMZ thinking that Allen really did bang Diggs' ex (or vice-versa?), and it had become way too toxic there to move forward.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Bowser

That makes sense when it's spelled out like that.

My brain went full TMZ thinking that Allen really did bang Diggs' ex (or vice-versa?), and it had become way too toxic there to move forward.

It's how I wanted to handle the Clark deal and tried to point it out to the "He costs the same to cut as he does to keep" crowd.

That cost just gets sent to the next year. For the Bills, it cost the same to keep him as it would to cut him...over 1 season. But over 2, you get the benefit of the subtracted base.

It's why most cap maneuvers really need to be looked at over a 2 year window and sometimes 3. There are ways to work it that make a lot of sense when viewed in the context of possible restructures. When you do that - and focus on base salary or roster bonuses being freed up (because the signing/restructure bonuses are baked into the cake either way) you can really see what the end game was.

This was all about freeing up that $19 million in base salary over 2 seasons. the rest of the damage was just a matter of when it hit. And whether it hits in 24 or 25 is immaterial in the rollover era, especially when you have a QB contract that you can move money around on to make things largely even out.

[ROYC75]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

That money was gonna be on the cap next season anyway.

Ultimately they were willing to eat a little shit this year to save $19 million over the next 2 seasons (the base salary they avoided this year).

If you view it in the context of them treating 2024 as a stepback season to clean up the books (Miller should be off in 2025 as well) before re-loading again, it's a pretty smart move.

The Bills plan seems really clear at this point - they're not trying real hard for 2024. They're trying to plan for life after the Bengals start losing WRs and Kelce ages out. They pulled the chute on what appeared to be a 3-year window around the Von Miller deal and are looking to set up a new one.

It's really not a bad plan.

It is exactly what they are doing, And it's the Smartest move for them.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ROYC75

It is exactly what they are doing, And it's the Smartest move for them.

Yup.

Not everyone can keep a window open for a decade. Mahomes is a unicorn that allows that.

For everyone else it's about finding a window, attacking it, identifying a core for the future and then re-grouping and rebuilding around that core for a 2nd bite at the apple.

Then you find a new core, rinse and repeat.

For a 'normal' NFL team you're looking at maybe an 8 year cycle where you have a year of build up, 3 years where you gauge/attack your window, 2 years of rebuild/reload and then 2-3 years within a new window.

Then the guys you started with have aged out and you start the process anew. Now for Buffalo, their core guys weren't all that young to begin with so it's a different sequence for them, but they're definitely in their step-back period before trying to re-set a core and forge a new window.

The Chiefs are in their '2nd Window' already because somehow they won a damn SB in the 2022 'reload' year. Now they're making a 2nd attack with their Mahomes/Kelce/Jones core for a couple more years before they will also look to re-assess and reload.

2026 is likely to be a little bit of a step-back season where they identify their new core; likely around Mahomes, Rice and McDuffie. But I'd say they're in far better shape than most teams because of how well they've supplemented this roster with dudes like Karlaftis, Bolton and Creed as others have aged out.

The Chiefs have just done this better than everyone else.

[scho63]

A past friend and golf buddy from NJ was the top salary cap expert working for the NFL head office and then went to the Texans to run football operations.

He tried explaining the salary cap to a bunch of us one day after golf and no one could understand it.

Really complex......

[BigRedChief]

We are paying Mahomes top $, we can't afford dead cap money. It would kill us that year. As long as Mahomes is upright and not running for his life at the snap of the ball, we have a realistic chance to win a SB.

[Pitt Gorilla]

"By my math, there is nearly a billion dollars in dead money on NFL caps this year.

Over $828 million."


And only around half of that is due to Russel Wilson.

[ModSocks]

Good thread, Direkshun.