The various methods NFL teams use to generate additional salary cap room, including restructures, cuts, trades, extensions, and June 1 designations.
Creating cap space is a critical skill for NFL front offices, and teams have a wide toolkit at their disposal. The most common methods include: restructuring existing contracts (converting salary to bonus), releasing players (either pre- or post-June 1), trading players with large cap hits, signing players to extensions that spread money over more years, and carrying over unused cap space from previous years. Each method involves different trade-offs. Restructures create immediate savings but push money into the future. Cutting players provides cap relief equal to the difference between the cap hit and dead money, but the team loses the player. Extensions lower the current-year cap charge but commit the team to additional years. Post-June 1 designations allow dead money to be split across two cap years but delay the full savings. The best cap managers plan multiple years ahead, coordinating their moves to maintain competitiveness while avoiding the cap cliff that results from too many short-term fixes. Teams like the Rams and Saints have demonstrated aggressive cap management to win now, while teams like the Colts and Patriots have historically taken more conservative approaches. Neither strategy is inherently superior -- the right approach depends on the team's competitive window and roster composition.
Before the 2024 season, the Bears created over $30 million in cap space through a combination of restructures (Cole Kmet, Jaylon Johnson), player releases, and carrying over unused 2023 cap space. This allowed them to sign multiple free agents and absorb the cap hits from their 2024 draft class.
Category: Cap Strategies. Part of the StickToTheModel NFL Encyclopedia.