It wasn’t the official start of summer in the NFL, but June 1 was a massive date around the league, and that date played a crucial role in several players moving on or teams taking a risk on a considerable trade.
In NFL terminology, June 1 is the final day that teams see all future prorated money accelerate as “dead money” if a player has been released. Teams like the Eagles and others around the NFL gained salary cap space, as any player designated for a post-June one release earlier this year moves from the active roster to the dead money side of the books.
What, exactly, is a dead money charge?
A dead money charge is a charge on an NFL team’s salary cap for a player no longer on the roster. It represents any remaining signing bonus proration that was not accounted for before the player’s release or trade. It is not a cash payment but rather a cap charge resulting from the rule that allows teams to prorate a signing bonus evenly over as many as five years. If a player is released before the end of those five years, all remaining signing bonus proration accelerates onto the team’s salary cap for the current year.
With mandatory minicamps underway, we’re ranking all 32 NFL teams by dead money cap space via Over The Cap.