The NFL saw a big, record-breaking number on Monday. When the Denver Broncos confirmed they would release quarterback Russell Wilson, they got stuck on an $85 million dead money through the next two years.

What is dead money in the NFL?

Technically, dead money is a salary cap hit a team has for a player who is not on the roster anymore.

And that can happen in two different ways. The first (and more frequent) one is when the team has already paid a part of the player's contract, but that hasn't hit the cap yet — for example, in the form of a signing bonus, which prorates through the life of the contract. This is just a salary cap mechanism, and the team doesn't owe the player any extra money.

The second way is when the player has guarantees left in his contract when released. In this case, the team has to keep paying the player.

In Russell Wilson's case, both will happen at the same time.

How it happened

When the Broncos traded for Wilson in 2022, they immediately extended him with a five-year, $242.6 million extension, meaning a seven-year deal in total, since he had already two seasons left in his old contract.

The deal included a $50 million signing bonus — which prorated through the first five years, $10 million per season. There were also option bonuses in 2023 and 2024, predetermined amounts of money in each year structured for the team to prorate it again, lowering the immediate cap hit.

The money paid in form of signing and 2023 roster bonuses will hit the cap now, even though the Broncos have already paid it.

The guarantees, however, also included base salaries in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and the 2024 roster bonus. So the Broncos will still pay Wilson $39 million this year.

Combining everything, the Broncos will have $85 million in dead money — $17 million from the base salary, $38 million from roster bonuses, and $30 million from the signing bonus.

When will it hit the cap?

When a player gets cut until May, all the money left to hit the cap accelerates into the current year. If the move happens after June 1st, the current year's money hits the cap right away, but the rest of the contract will accelerate only in the following year.

However, the NFL created a post-June 1st designation, a tool for teams to release players without the need to hold their rights until June.

Presumably, the Denver Broncos will use the post-June 1st designation to release Russell Wilson. That means the 2024 money will hit the cap in 2024, but the rest of the contract will accelerate in 2025.

So instead of $85 million in dead money this year, the Broncos will have $35.4 million in 2024, and $49.6 million in 2025.

Crazy numbers

The Russell Wilson contract ended up being historically bad for the Broncos. The $85 million hit is not only the largest amount of dead money in NFL history, but it's more than the next two combined (Matt Ryan – $40.525 million with the Atlanta Falcons, and Aaron Rodgers – $40.313 million with the Green Bay Packers).

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