NFL teams have been free this offseason to make up to a pair of post-June 1 releases. It’s an important mechanism to have, allowing the team to spread out a dead cap hit across two seasons rather than absorbing the entirety in 2026. <\/p>\n
The Miami Dolphins did this with Tua Tagovailoa, for instance, while the Atlanta Falcons did so with Kirk Cousins. <\/p>\n
Here’s what each team’s cap situation looks like ahead of June 1, per Spotrac<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here’s why Post-June 1 designations matter.<\/p>\n When teams sign players to new contracts, they are allowed to spread out the cap hit from the signing bonus over the duration of the agreement (up to five years). In essence, the money is paid to the player the moment the contract is signed, but the entirety of the signing bonus doesn’t immediately count against the cap and is instead spread out. <\/p>\n So when a player is traded before the contract is over, those cap charges\u2014also known as dead cap space\u2014remain with the original team. Generally, the entirety of the remaining dead cap space counts against a team’s salary cap that season unless the release is designated as a post-June 1 transaction. That designation allows the team to split the dead cap charge across two seasons (in this case, 2026 and 2027). <\/p>\n Players can be cut at any point in the offseason and still be designated as a post-June 1 release. If teams want to trade a player and split the dead cap charge between two seasons, however, they cannot process the transaction until June 2. <\/p>\n So if you’ve been wondering why you’ve been inundated with A.J. Brown trade rumors but he’s still on the Philadelphia Eagles, that is why\u2014the Birds are attempting to spread out his dead cap charge between 2026 and 2027 (assuming they in fact deal him, which seems very likely<\/a>). <\/p>\n