Dead cap
An NFL term
Salary cap charges for players who are no longer on the roster. It happens because signing bonus money was paid up front but spread across the contract for cap purposes, and cutting the player accelerates what is left.
A signing bonus is paid immediately but counted against the cap in equal slices over the life of the deal, up to five years. Cut the player early and every remaining slice hits at once.
This is why a team can be paying real cap dollars to someone playing for a rival. The money already left the building; only the accounting remains.
A post-June 1 designation splits that acceleration across two years instead of one, which is why some cuts are announced in March but processed in June.
You’ll hear it like this
Cutting him saved cash but left the largest dead cap charge on the roster.
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Checked 2026-08-07.