Broncos Fans Shouldn't Worry About Rumored 2024 Salary-Cap Projections
For the past couple of seasons, the NFL has been borrowing against future cap seasons because the COVID pandemic resulted in no in-person game attendance in 2020. That, in turn, impacted the NFL's revenue-sharing pool that goes toward player salaries.
Over The Cap's Jason Fitzgerald had projected the cap to take a larger jump in 2024 between new TV deals and the cap catching up after the "borrowing" period, but he recently noted that does not appear to be the case.
Fitzgerald has adjusted his projected 2024 base cap downward from $255 million to $242 million. That means the Denver Broncos are projected to be $26.5M over the salary cap once they get 51 players under contract.
As a reminder, the base salary cap doesn't represent the actual cap for a team. Any cap carryover from the previous season is applied to each team's cap. The Broncos don't have much in cap carryover, though, with less than $1M in projected carryover.
However, the Broncos' cap situation is not necessarily a big deal. The Broncos are expected to be in a better position in 2025, assuming the cap increases as Fitzgerald projected, then increases by a similar amount in 2025. Furthermore, it remains to be seen which players the Broncos will cut, extend, re-sign, or allow to depart.
In all likelihood, the Broncos will release a couple of players, possibly trade one, and may be prepared to extend at least one player. These moves would ostensibly clear some cap space and give the Broncos enough wiggle room to sign players to futures contracts, bring back players on low-cost deals, and sign their 2024 NFL draft picks.
Remember, as well, that the top 51 cutoff takes effect for the offseason. A player signed to a futures contract won't see his cap charge apply because he's paid an amount that falls below that cutoff.
Let's briefly go over players by category who might be part of moves to free up cap space.
Cut Candidates
- Tim Patrick | WR
- D.J. Jones | DL
Patrick has missed the past two seasons with injuries, and Jones isn't performing as well as he did last season. Given the circumstances, both players might have been cut regardless of the cap situation.
Trade Candidate
- Jerry Jeudy | WR
He's been the subject of trade talks before, but given that he's due nearly a $13M base salary, the Broncos have to make a decision about Jeudy. An extension is possible, but given that things haven't worked out for him in Denver, a trade is more likely.
Extension Candidate
- Garett Bolles | LT
- Justin Simmons | S
Both players enter the final year of their current deals. Bolles is the more likely candidate, given that he has played well and that quality offensive tackles tend to be worth a third contract.
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The Broncos have to be careful with Simmons because safeties are a position that doesn't always prove worthy of a third contract. Some might point to Kareem Jackson, but he was a cornerback who switched to safety during his time in Denver.
Bottom Line
Regardless, Broncos fans shouldn't sweat much about the cap situation. There are ways to make things work, and in a couple of instances, certain moves were going to happen for reasons other than cap space.
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