These big names are likely heading to different teams
An offseason roster purge is an annual NFL occurrence because long-term contracts aren’t fully guaranteed. Players are often released when salaries aren’t deemed to match production.
Trades can occur for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, a Pro Bowl-caliber player wants a change of scenery. A new regime might look to move high-priced veterans who aren’t a good scheme fit.
A majority of the time when a player is traded, released or retires, there is a residual salary cap charge. This cap charge for a player no longer on a team’s roster is commonly referred to as dead money. It exists because the remaining proration of the salary components that are treated like signing bonus immediately accelerate into his team’s current salary cap with a trade, release or retirement. Dead money is typically a sunk cost where money isn’t owed to a player. Only if there are salary guarantees when a player is released will there be a payment associated with dead money.
There are two major exceptions to this general rule of bonus proration accelerating. Only the current year’s proration counts toward the salary cap with transactions occurring after June 1. The bonus proration in future contract years is delayed until the next league year beginning in the following March.
A team can also release two players each league year prior to June 1 (known as a post-June 1 designation) that will be treated under the salary cap as if they were released after June 1. With a post-June 1 designation, a team is required to carry the player’s full cap number until June 2 even though he is no longer a part of the roster. The player’s salary comes off the books at that time unless it is guaranteed.
Here’s a look at 15 noteworthy players who could be in different uniforms next season because of a trade or as salary cap casualties.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $23.5 million
- 2025 Compensation: $37.5 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $14 million
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $9.5 million
The Aaron Rodgers experiment has been a failure. Rodgers was supposed to be the missing piece to not only end a playoff drought that started in 2011, but turn the Jets into Super Bowl contenders when he was acquired from the Green Bay Packers in the days leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft.
Both general manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh lost their jobs during the regular season. New York’s 5-12 record was two games worse than in 2023 with 2021’s second overall pick Zach Wilson, who was a colossal bust, at quarterback after Rodgers tore his left Achilles four offensive plays into the season. The 41-year-old recognizes that the new regime may want to go in another direction at quarterback should he choose to continue playing football. Releasing Rodgers with a post-June 1 designation will mean $35 million of the $49 million in dead money would be a 2026 cap charge.
The dead money gets worse if the Jets were to bring Rodgers back in 2025 on his existing contract. Picking up the option in Rodgers’ contract for a 2029 contract year requires a $35 million payment. Rodgers’ unsecured $37.5 million 2025 base salary will drop to $2.5 million in the process. There’s an unusually long window to exercise this option that extends to a day before New York’s first 2025 regular-season game. This $35 million option bonus will be prorated on the salary cap at $7 million annually from 2025 through 2029.
The Jets would be contending with $63 million in dead money with Rodgers departing after the 2025 season. With use of a post-June 1 designation, the Jets would have $21 million in 2026 dead money and $42 million in 2027.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $40 million
- 2025 Compensation: $27.5 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $40 million (includes $27.5 million 2025 base salary guarantee)
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: None
The Falcons signed Cousins to four-year, $180 million contract averaging $45 million per year with $100 million in guarantees where $90 million was fully guaranteed at signing in March. The expectation was Cousins would lead the Falcons to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
The Falcons appeared to be in control of the NFC South with a 6-3 record and essentially a three-game lead over the 4-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers nine weeks into the season because of a sweep of two games played between them. Things changed with a horrible five-game stretch by Cousins in which the Falcons only won one game to drop behind the Buccaneers with a 7-7 record. In an effort to salvage their playoff hopes, Cousins was benched for Michael Penix Jr., who was surprisingly taken with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Although Falcons head coach Raheem Morris claims he is comfortable with Cousins as Penix’s backup next season, there is plenty of speculation that Cousins will be released with a post-June 1 designation before his injury guaranteed $10 million fifth day of the 2026 league year roster bonus becomes fully guaranteed March 16 on the fifth day of the 2025 league year. Cousins’ contract contains a no-trade clause that he may not be willing to waive because the Falcons weren’t forthcoming about potentially selecting a quarterback in the first round. His play that led to the benching likely diminished his trade value anyway.
The Falcons will be on the hook for the $27.5 million Cousins is making in 2025 if he is released because this money is already fully guaranteed. There will be $65 million of dead money. The $65 million would be taken over two years with use of a post-June 1 designation where the Falcons would have a $40 million cap charge relating to Cousins in 2025 and a $25 million cap hit in 2026. The Falcons will have paid Cousins $90 million for just one season by releasing him in March.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $51.458 million
- 2025 Compensation: $40 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $21.458 million (includes $10 million 2025 roster bonus guarantee)
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $30 million
Standard operating procedure for the Saints is to annually restructure as many contracts as necessary to solve perpetual salary cap problems. Doing so with Carr would create up to $30.996 million in cap space if a dummy/voiding 2030 contract year is added in the process. Releasing Carr before his injury guaranteed $30 million 2025 base salary is fully guaranteed March 14 on the third day of the 2025 league year becomes a more viable alternative if the head coach that’s hired has serious reservations about him as his quarterback. The Saints would be taking Carr’s $50.132 million of dead money over two years (2025 and 2026) by using a post-June 1 designation on him. There would be a $28.674 million cap charge in 2026 relating to Carr.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $27,989,250
- 2025 Compensation: $23.118 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $10,202,500
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $17,786,750
Raiders owner Mark Davis has been adamant that Crosby won’t be traded. It could be a different story if Crosby forces the issue because he isn’t happy with the direction of the team after a new head coach is hired or his contract isn’t addressed in a meaningful way. Crosby is under contract through 2026 for $42.84 million. The Raiders took a Band-Aid approach to Crosby’s contract in 2024. Crosby had $5 million added to three years that were left where he got a $6 million raise for 2024 while his 2025 compensation also increases by $1.198 million and his 2026 money decreases by $2.198 million.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $38,340,666
- 2025 Compensation: $36.25 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $8,362,667
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $29,977,999
This year (2025) was always going to be the year of reckoning with Adams regardless of whether he was dealt to the Jets in October for a 2025 third-round pick or remained with the Raiders. Adams was never going to play the 2025 and 2026 seasons under the $36.25 million he’s scheduled to make in each of those years. The salaries were included for cosmetic purposes to artificially inflate the five-year, $140 million deal he received from the Raiders to make him the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver on paper at $28 million per year rather than signing a three-year, $67.5 million contract averaging $22.5 million per year. Adams is less likely to renegotiate his contract if Rodgers is no longer with the Jets.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $23.814 million
- 2025 Compensation: $17.5 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $15.417 million
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $8.397 million
Miller took a pay cut from $17.5 million to a fully guaranteed $8.855 million with the opportunity to earn as much as $20 million total through incentives after a disappointing 2023 campaign in which he didn’t have a sack in 12 games. Although Miller rebounded to have six sacks this season, another substantial pay cut from the $17.5 million he is scheduled to make in 2025 will be necessary for him to have any chance to remain in Buffalo as a 36-year-old since he is strictly a situational pass rusher at this stage of his illustrious career.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $29.78 million
- 2025 Compensation: $20 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $17.26 million
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $12.52 million
Kupp intends to play football next season, but recognizes it may not be with the Rams. He has acknowledged that he has no control over what will happen during the offseason. Three seasons removed from Kupp winning the receiving triple crown, Puka Nacua has clearly replaced the veteran as the Rams’ primary receiving option. There were rumors of Kupp being on the trading block early this season. The trade speculation ended as the Rams rebounded from a 1-4 start. There are two years worth $39.58 million remaining on the three-year, $80.35 million contract extension averaging $26,783,333 per year Kupp signed in June 2022.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $36,471,668
- 2025 Compensation: $25.36 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $11,111,668
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $25.36 million
Bosa took a $7 million pay cut to remain with the Chargers this season. He likely won’t be getting that opportunity again. Bosa has the NFL’s second-largest 2025 salary cap number for a non-quarterback. He has had trouble staying on the field in recent years. The 14 games Bosa played in 2024 were his most since the 2021 season. Bosa’s five sacks were his fewest for a season in which he has played at least 12 games.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $15,825,505
- 2025 Compensation: $17,550,529
- 2025 Dead Money: $13,705,505
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $2.12 million
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch insists that Samuel won’t be released. Nonetheless, Samuel, who is heading into a contract year, probably doesn’t have a long-term future in San Francisco because the 49ers selected wide receiver Ricky Pearsall 31st overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, Brandon Aiyuk, quarterback Brock Purdy’s favorite target, was signed to a four-year, $120 million contract extension shortly before the regular season started and Jauan Jennings took a big step forward.
Samuel could be extremely attractive to potential suitors in a trade, especially after his $16,600,529 2025 base salary reduces to $1.17 million because of an option to pick up a dummy/voiding 2029 contract year is exercised during the first 10 days of the 2025 league year with a $15,430,529 payment. The $15,430,529 will be prorated over Samuel’s 2025 contract year and the four dummy/voiding years (2026 through 2029). Under this scenario, the 49ers would have $32,745,624 of dead money in 2026 from the voiding of Samuel’s 2026 through 2029 contract years.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $25,481,647
- 2025 Compensation: $17.5 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $19.092 million
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $6,389,647
A divorce between Alexander and the Packers seems inevitable whether through a trade or his release. Injuries have limited Alexander to just 34 games over the last four seasons. The two-time second team All-Pro missed nine of the last 10 games this season because of a right knee injury that required surgery.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $8.823 million
- 2025 Compensation: $2.1 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $6.723 million
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $2.1 million
Williams’ regression led to him losing his starting free safety spot after a Week 10 game against the Bengals. He was a healthy scratch for the last five regular-season games and the playoffs. Williams reworked his contract right before the end of the 2024 regular season so a post-June 1 designation could be used to release him once the 2025 league starts on March 12. His 2025 base salary dropped from $12 million to $2.1 million while his 2026 base salary increased from $14 million to $50 million. The $50 million becomes fully guaranteed on the second day of the 2025 league year (March 13) was added to ensure Williams’ release.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $9,687,353
- 2025 Compensation: $2.95 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $7.355 million
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $2,332,353
Hargrave being limited to three games this season with a partially torn right triceps altered his tenure with the 49ers. General manager John Lynch confirmed plans to release Hargrave with a post-June 1 designation in his season-ending press conference. Hargrave’s contract was reworked in early December to pave the way for this to happen. His $19.9 million 2025 base salary was cut to $2.1 million that’s fully guaranteed on the second day of the 2025 league year (March 13). Hargrave’s 2026 base salary was raised $18 million from $21.65 million to $39.65 million. It’s also fully guaranteed on the second day of the 2025 league year.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $30.895 million
- 2025 Compensation: $17 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $13.895 million
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $17 million
Lockett took a $4 million pay cut from $17 million to $13 million last March to remain in Seattle. He’s become the third receiving option on the depth chart with the emergence of 2023 first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The 32-year-old had his worst statistical season in 2024 with 49 catches for 600 yards and two touchdowns since 2018. Lockett’s $30.895 million cap number is 2025’s fourth largest for a wide receiver.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $5.195 million
- 2025 Compensation: $2.1 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $3.095 million
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $2.1 million
Bradberry made the move to safety after a subpar 2023 campaign. Philadelphia’s defense hasn’t missed a beat with Bradberry being on injured reserve since late August due to a lower leg injury. His departure has been in the works. Bradberry’s contract was redone in November in anticipation of using a post-June 1 designation on him. A $16.595 million option bonus to pick up a dummy/voiding 2029 contract year was removed where Bradberry’s 2025 base salary became $2.1 million that’s fully guaranteed on the second day of the 2025 league year (March 13). Bradberry’s dummy/voiding 2026 contract year was turned into a real contract year with a $50 million base salary that’s also fully guaranteed on the second day of the 2025 league year.
- 2025 Salary Cap Number: $8.175 million
- 2025 Compensation: $6.7 million
- 2025 Dead Money: $2.95 million
- 2025 Salary Cap Savings: $5.225 million
Sanders was signed to four-year, $25.64 million contract averaging $6.35 million per year where $13 million was fully guaranteed in 2023 free agency to be Carolina’s every-down running back. That didn’t last long as Chuba Hubbard took over for Sanders by the middle of that season. Hubbard hasn’t looked back. He was rewarded with a four-year, $33.2 million extension (worth up to $37.2 million) with $16.558 million of guarantees in early November. Hubbard’s deal essentially seals Sanders’ fate with the Panthers.
