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Analyzing the State of the Broncos' Salary Cap Situation
The Denver Broncos have an interesting outlook when it comes to their finances.
The Denver Broncos have, as expected, been mostly quiet in free agency in 2024. They have mainly focused on retaining players from last year or looking for value in players who were on other teams.
One reason is the Broncos spent a lot of money in 2023 and, thus, have a lot of cash committed to players still under contract. Another reason is that the Broncos parted ways with Russell Wilson, who is due $39M from the Broncos for 2024, save for $1.2M that the Pittsburgh Steelers will pay him on a one-year deal.
The Broncos are still adding players, as evidenced by offensive tackle Matt Peart agreeing to terms Wednesday. But now we have a better idea about where the Broncos cap situation stands after free agency has settled down.
Per Over the Cap, the Broncos have $22.558M in cap space, though that figure does not include the one-year deals given to Peart, Justin Strnad, and Cody Barton. Barton received a reported $3.5M on his one-year deal. It remains to unknown how much Strnad and Peart will receive, though they may be getting the veteran minimum, about $1.1M for those players.
Assuming Strnad and Peart have signed for the veteran minimum, the Broncos should have about $19.575M in cap space with 72 players under contract. One thing to note is that the top 51 cutoff is in effect for the offseason, which means only the top 51 cap hits count toward the salary cap. Not until rosters are set after the preseason will all players count toward the salary cap.
Players such as Ja’Quan McMillian and Jalen Virgil are among the players whose salaries don’t count toward the cap at this time. With the additions of Barton, Strnad, and Peart, players like Jaleel McLaughlin and Thomas Incoom won’t count toward the salary cap.
While it’s true that all players will count toward the cap after final rosters are set in September, keep in mind that plenty of changes could happen between now and the time when rosters finalize. Therefore, Broncos fans shouldn’t read too much into cap space during the offseason. While the Broncos can’t just spend money at will, they have some flexibility for the offseason. They need to ensure keeping some flexibility once the regular season begins.
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