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The Denver Broncos have been rather good stewards of the salary cap during John Elway’s leadership, but a host of missteps and poor free agent signings has come to a head in 2019 as the franchise ranks fifth in the NFL in dead money against the cap.
According to Spotrac, the Broncos are more than twice the league average in dead money this season. While that may seem bad, they are nearly half as bad as the Miami Dolphins who lead the entire league in dead money.
Here are the top 10 teams in dead money hits right now
- Miami Dolphins - $13.5M
- New Orleans Saints - $10.6M
- Arizona Cardinals - $10.5M
- New York Giants - $9.8M
- Denver Broncos - $7.5M
- Buffalo Bills - $7.5M
- Baltimore Ravens - $5.9M
- Philadelphia Eagles - $5.0M
- Cleveland Browns - $4.8M
- Atlanta Falcons - $4.7M
The Broncos also reported traded for a new starting quarterback in Joe Flacco, which leaves the future of Case Keenum in doubt. The team also plans to move on from Brandon Marshall who would carry a $4M dead money hit once released. If both end up being released, then the dead money hit would easily jump to #1 in the NFL for 2019.
The good news is that the pain could find its way out by next year if Elway can right the ship and start retaining the players he signs in free agency.