It’s officially June 1 in the NFL which signifies the first major salary cap accounting change for the league year. Today is the final day where releasing or trading a player will cause all future prorated money to accelerate into 2026. Starting on June 2nd a team will only be responsible for this year’s salary cap proration and will defer any other acceleration to 2027. This is also the final day where all of the post June 1 terminated players have non guaranteed salaries that remain on the books. Here is a look at just what impact the change will have on the cap charges for all of the teams that used the post June 1 designation.
Dolphins Gain $21.098M in cap room with release of Bradley Chubb and Tua Tagovaiola
Miami gains much needed cap room as they were right up against the cap due to their massive dead money charges on the roster this year of $179 million (and counting). The big gain here is from Chubb whose cap charge drops from $31.2 million to $10.98 million. It is extremely rare in todays NFL for a team to use a June1 on a player with such a large cap charge but Miami’s cap situation called for it as ultimately it was more important to defer $12.89 million in cap charges for Chubb to 2027 than worry about the impact of his cap charge during the free agency period.
Tua’s cap number only drops by $868K from $56.27 million to $55.4 million. They still need to account for $43.8 million for him in 2027 through they will also receive a $1.215 million cap credit for his signing with the Falcons. Miami already has $56.687 million in dead money on the books in 2027.
Vikings Gain $12.5M in cap room with release of Jonathan Allen and Harrison Smith
Much like Miami, the Vikings gain some much needed cap room as they were only around $2 million in cap space prior to these transactions becoming official. Allen’s cap number falls from $23.9 million to $12.67 million, creating $11.2 million in cap room. Smith’s release was pre negotiated into his contract and they only gain $1.3 million with his numbers coming off the books.
Allen will count for $4.67 million in dead money in 2027 but the team will also receive an $8 million cap credit for his signing with the Bengals. Smith will count for $7.6 million in 2027.
Packers Gain $11.45M in cap room with release of Nate Hobbs and Brandon McManus
Hobbs 2026 cap number will drop by $8.8 million from $12.8 to $4 million. The team will carry $8 million in dead money in 2027 for Hobbs. The situation with McManus was weird with the team paying him $1 million and then pivoting off him following the draft. They pick up $2.61 million with his cap falling from $5.27 million to $2.67 million. They only deferred $1.67 million in cap charges. The Packers did not have cap issues which made both of these a bit surprising but I guess they saw the value in having more 2026 flexibility.
Broncos Gain $8.19M in cap room with release of Dre Greenlaw
Greenlaw’s cap number falls from $10.357 million to $2.167 million opening up just over $8 million in cap room for the Broncos. The Broncos only deferred $2.167 million to 2027 which made it surprising that they used the June 1, but I guess every little bit extra savings can help especially for a team that seems to like to do late in season contract extensions.
Cardinals Gain $5.1M in cap room with release of Kyler Murray
Murray’s cap number will now drop from $51.7 million to $46.57 million to open up an additional $5.14 million in cap room for 2026. There will be a $7.2 million dead money charge for Arizona in 2027 for Murray. The team will also receive a $1.3 million credit for Murray’s contract with the Vikings.
Browns Gain $3.4M in cap room with release of David Njoku and Wyatt Teller
There was not much for the Browns to gain as these were pre-negotiated post June 1 terminations where the team used the June 1 for cap purposes instead of allowing the players to become free agents. Njoku’s cap number drops from $10.834 million to $9.534 million while Teller’s drops from $10.393 million to $8.293 million. Teller’s 2026 cap number is $11.1 million while Njoku’s is $14.797 million. The Browns are 2nd in the NFL in 2027 dead money with $25.908 million and 4th in the NFL in dead money for 2026 at $85.4 million.
Falcons Gain $2.1M in cap room with release of Kirk Cousins
Don’t let the number fool you as the real impact of this was far greater than just $2.1 million. The Falcons and Cousins agreed to a revised contract last year that lowered his cap charge by millions in return for promising to release him in March. The revised contract was set to be the minimum possible cap charge during the holding period from March to June 1. Cousins will count for $22.5 million in dead money in 2026 and $12.5 million in dead money in 2027. The Falcons will receive a $1.3 million cap credit in 2027 for his contract with the Raiders.