{"id":792141,"date":"2026-07-10T05:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T05:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/792141\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T05:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T05:23:15","slug":"nfl-teams-with-most-dead-cap-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/792141\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Teams With Most Dead Cap In 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dolphins set an unfortunate record this offseason following the release of Tua Tagovailoa<\/a>. The move left the franchise with a $55.4MM dead cap hit, which exceeded the previous record held by the Broncos and Russell Wilson<\/a> ($53MM).<\/p>\n

Of course, as Miami is undergoing a complete teardown, they\u2019re not overly concerned about the wasted cap space in 2026. For competitive squads, a hefty dead cap charge could drastically limit their ability to add to their roster following final roster cuts and into the regular season. A team\u2019s current dead cap commitment could also influence their 53-man roster decisions, as teams always pursue some extra breathing room.<\/p>\n

Which teams have the most dead cap on their books? We\u2019ve listed them in order below (h\/t to Spotrac):<\/p>\n

Dolphins: $179.2MM
\nBrowns $116.8MM
\nSaints $112.1MM
\nJets $111.4MM
\nEagles $74.4MM
\nCardinals $73.3MM
\nTexans $66.5MM
\nRaiders $55.8MM
\nJaguars $54.7MM
\nBills $46.2MM
\nPackers $45.5MM
\nVikings $45.3MM
\nFalcons $44.1MM
\nCowboys $42.4MM
\nPatriots $38.4MM
\n49ers $36.2MM
\nLions $33.1MM
\nTitans $28.1MM
\nGiants $26.5MM
\nPanthers $22.1MM
\nCommanders $20.7MM
\nBears $20.1MM
\nRavens $18.2MM
\nColts $15.7MM
\nBuccaneers $13.3MM
\nSteelers $12.2MM
\nRams $10.7MM
\nBengals $10.4MM
\nChiefs $9.7MM
\nChargers $5.5MM
\nBroncos $3.5MM
\nSeahawks $516K<\/p>\n

As mentioned, it\u2019s not a surprise to see the Dolphins atop this list. While Tagovailoa\u2019s release easily leads the team, the Dolphins also took significant hits following the 2025 and 2026 departures of Tyreek Hill<\/a> ($28.25MM), Jaylen Waddle<\/a> ($23.23MM), Jalen Ramsey<\/a> ($20.87MM), and Minkah Fitzpatrick<\/a> ($12.99MM). The team\u2019s dead cap charges account for close to 60% of their cap.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere atop the list, the Browns were impacted by Joel Bitonio<\/a>\u2018s retirement and void years ($23.5MM) plus the Myles Garrett<\/a> trade ($21.3MM). The Saints are still navigating Derek Carr<\/a>\u2018s $36.6MM in dead cap, while the Jets have $55MM in dead cap committed to former QBs (Aaron Rodgers<\/a> ($35MM) and Justin Fields<\/a> ($20MM)).<\/p>\n

The defending Super Bowl champs are at the bottom of the list, as the Seahawks only have to account for $516K from Sataoa Laumea<\/a> and Damien Martinez<\/a>. The Broncos, who are finally seeing relief from Wilson\u2019s former cap charge, have the second-smallest dead cap hit in the NFL, mostly taken up by Dre Greenlaw<\/a> ($2.1MM).<\/p>\n

Interestingly, ESPN\u2019s Jeff Legwold recently explored<\/a> how Wilson\u2019s departure out of Denver may have created a trend around the NFL. The Broncos proved you can navigate a bulky dead cap charge, although that was clearly offset by the team\u2019s commitment to a QB on a rookie contract, Bo Nix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always the quarterback,\u201d an executive told Legwold of the dead-cap approach. \u201cAny team, [the Broncos] included, you\u2019re going to need good enough play at quarterback and a good enough team around the guy if you\u2019re going to go to the playoffs like they did right away, especially if the move you made was [moving on from] the previous quarterback. And a rookie deal at quarterback on a playoff-worthy team, that never hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dolphins set an unfortunate record this offseason following the release of Tua Tagovailoa. The move left the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,147699,82],"class_list":["post-792141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-pfr-originals","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}