Denver Broncos Thread

CMcsporty

“Denver would owe $37m more to Wilson in cash and a record $85m in dead money – the cost of which will likely be spread over two years – if they cut Wilson, an unprecedented sum.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/dec/27/broncos-bench-quarterback-russell-wilson-for-remainder-of-nfl-season

Intrigued by this scenario and unfamiliar with in and outs of how the NFL teams go about business.

Can Anyone boil down how this is set to play out?

1.Are they genuinely trying to keep Wilson or set him up for trade

2.How/why would a team be hit with ‘dead money if they cut someone.

Thanks

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121543495#Comment_121543495

1. He has a no-trade clause, so can't actually be traded unless he agrees to waive this clause. There's no particular reason for him to want to waive it (why should he go to a city/team he doesn't wish to go to? Even if the trade is to a team he wants to play for, why should he hamstring his future team by getting them to spend draft picks?).
2. Dead money at it's simplest is money that has been already been physically paid in salary to an ex-player, but hasn't yet been accounted for in strict salary cap. Example, you pay a player a $10M fee at initial signing (a real, single payment of $10M that lands in his bank) and pro-rata it over the term of his contract for cap purposes (perhaps $2M a year for 5 years). This gives you flexibility in the cap rather than a single big hit, but if you cut him after 2 years then there is $6M in dead money that must come off the salary cap at some stage over the next years.