Releasing a player before June 1, which accelerates all remaining dead money into the current cap year. This is the default treatment for any player cut during the regular roster-building period.
A pre-June 1 cut occurs when a team releases a player before June 1 of the current league year. Under NFL cap accounting rules, all remaining prorated signing bonus money and guaranteed salary that has not yet been accounted for accelerates onto the current year's salary cap as dead money. This means the team absorbs the full remaining cap charge immediately rather than spreading it across future years.
The dead money from a pre-June 1 cut equals the total remaining prorated bonus allocations from the player's contract. For example, if a player received a $25 million signing bonus on a five-year deal and is cut after year two, the remaining three years of prorated bonus ($15 million) would all hit the current year's cap. The team would save the player's base salary and roster bonuses for the current and future years but eat the accelerated bonus money.
Pre-June 1 cuts are the standard method for releasing players and work well when the remaining dead money is manageable relative to the cap savings. Teams often make these cuts during the early free agency period (March-April) to clear cap space for new signings. For players with large remaining bonus guarantees, teams may prefer to use the post-June 1 designation instead to split the dead money across two cap years.
When the Bears released QB Nick Foles in March 2023, all of his remaining prorated bonus money accelerated onto the 2023 cap as a pre-June 1 cut. The dead money hit was relatively small, making it a straightforward transaction to clear roster and cap space.
Dead Money = Total remaining prorated signing bonus + any guaranteed salary still owed Cap Savings = Cap Hit - Dead Money
Category: Roster Management. Part of the StickToTheModel NFL Encyclopedia.