A roster designation that spreads a released player's dead money across two cap years instead of one. Teams may designate up to two players as post-June 1 cuts before the actual date, with the cap relief taking effect after June 1.
The post-June 1 designation allows teams to split a released player's dead money charge across the current and following cap years. When a player is cut or traded after June 1 (or designated as a post-June 1 release before that date), only the current year's prorated signing bonus counts as dead money in year one. The remaining prorated bonus amounts from future years hit the cap in year two. Teams can designate up to two players as post-June 1 cuts before the actual date. When using this pre-designation, the player is released immediately but the cap savings do not take effect until after June 1. This is an important distinction: the roster spot opens up right away, but the cap space is not available for spending until June 1. Teams must plan their offseason spending carefully when relying on post-June 1 designations for cap relief. This mechanism is particularly valuable for teams needing to move on from expensive veterans with large remaining signing bonuses. By splitting the dead money, a team can avoid a massive single-year cap hit that might cripple their ability to field a competitive roster. The tradeoff is that dead money lingers into the following year, reducing future cap flexibility.
In 2024, the Falcons used a post-June 1 designation to release QB Matt Ryan's remaining dead money. Instead of absorbing the full $40.5 million in dead money in one year, Atlanta split it across two cap years, taking roughly $22 million in 2023 and the remainder in 2024.
Year 1 Dead Money = Current year prorated signing bonus only Year 2 Dead Money = Remaining future-year prorated bonus amounts Max designations per team per year = 2
Category: Roster Management. Part of the StickToTheModel NFL Encyclopedia.