How the New NFL CBA Affects Broncos' Free-Agency & Salary Cap

With the NFLPA having approved the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by a narrow margin, the NFL has set the base salary cap for 2020 and teams will be able to make transactions as per a typical league year.

For the Denver Broncos, that means the team will have $43.6 million in projected cap space, once the following moves are completed:

The trade for Jaguars CB A.J. Bouye.

Declining of OG Ronald Leary's team option.

The franchise tag is applied to S Justin Simmons.

However, the franchise tag could actually come in lower than projected, because the $12.4M projection was originally based on a salary cap of $200M. With the base cap at $198.2M instead, the franchise tag could be slightly lower. Former NFL agent and CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry projects a franchise tag for safeties at $11.4M.

The Broncos will still have plenty of space available to place the second-round restricted free agent tenders on OL Elijah Wilkinson and DT Mike Purcell (the actual tender numbers should be out soon). The trade for Bouye already marks one major move by the Broncos, but they have the cap space to make at least one more major move, then look for value from there.

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In-House Moves to be Made

Other moves could still be coming, namely the release of QB Joe Flacco. Because the CBA was extended, Flacco could be designated a post-June 1 cut, which would give the Broncos $20.25M in cap space with $3.4M dead money in 2020. However, the space wouldn't be realized until after June 1.

The Broncos could still do that move, though, and utilize some of that space for moves that aren't likely to happen until after June 1. The main one would be to sign their 2020 draft class.

The Broncos do need an estimated $10.1M for their draft picks at this time. However, the hits don't actually take effect until the draft picks officially sign their contracts.

Another move that might not happen until after June 1 is an extension for Simmons. Negotiations are likely to continue while he's under the franchise tag, but an extension may not be completed for a while. However, the space the Broncos would realize after June 1 would give them more space to work with for cap hits for Simmons' eventual extension.

There's also the matter of Phillip Lindsay, who GM John Elway has suggested will get an extension. As a former undrafted player, Lindsay is eligible for an extension now. Elway can utilize space realized in a post-June 1 cut of Flacco to work numbers for a Lindsay extension.

Of course, the Broncos could still utilize a straight cut this year to gain $10.05M in cap space to be used right away. Though a straight cut would mean $13.6M in dead money this year, there would be no dead money next year. Otherwise, the Broncos would eat $10.2M in dead money in 2021, because of the void years used when they converted base salary into a signing bonus last year.

It's a matter of whether you want to take more dead money now but with space immediately available, versus pushing a fair amount of dead money into 2021 but gaining more space after June 1. But at least now Denver can consider the latter option, whereas it wasn't available before the CBA was approved.

Elway is also free to utilize incentives in any contracts for players and not have to account for them in the 2020 cap. Any incentives earned by a player will now apply to 2021, meaning Elway has more flexibility in negotiating contracts.

The "30 percent rule" regarding cap hits in 2020 to 2021 no longer applies, either. The Broncos thus have more flexibility with structuring contracts for players they sign, whether their own or free agents from another team.

With the CBA approved, we've already seen multiple moves completed around the NFL. I would expect to see some more dominoes fall in the next couple of days leading up to the official start of the 2020 league year on Wednesday. After all, the legal tampering period starts Monday.

Other CBA Takeaways

17 Games: The Broncos will eventually be playing nine home games and eight away games totaling 17 regular-season games. The 17-game schedule is not expected to begin until 2021.

Expanded Playoffs: Seven teams in each Conference will reach the playoffs. It used to be six. That means 14 of the 32 teams in the NFL will be playoff-bound.

One Seed Bye Only: Henceforth, only the No. 1 seed in each Conference will receive a first-round playoff bye. The other six teams, regardless of seeding, will have to play on Wildcard weekend.

Follow Bob on Twitter @BobMorrisSports and @MileHighHuddle.

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