The NFL salary cap for the 2026 season is a massive $301.2 million, a number that is getting ridiculously larger as each season passes by. In the past, when a player carried a large dead cap hit number (i.e. they are no longer on the team, but still counted toward the cap), it might be detrimental. Now, it’s actually a tool that teams plan out for to a degree to get a player for cheaper earlier on before cutting ties with them later in their contract (when the league’s cap space has grown even higher).
The Browns’ dead cap hit as a team is $116.8 million, which is second in the NFL, but pales in comparison to the Miami Dolphins, who have $179.2 million in dead cap space). The use of void years often play a role in dead cap space for Cleveland these days, as almost every contract that Andrew Berry structures will have 5 years of a signing bonus built in, but a void year after the first, second, third, etc. year of the contract. When that void year hits, the remaining years of salary cap bonuses just get bumped up to that particular year as dead cap hits.
It’s a hair different for the Browns this year, though, when it comes to two recent headlines about star players: the trading of DE Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, and the official retirement of OL Joel Bitonio.
- The decision to trade Garrett will save the Browns money in the long run, but for the 2026 season, he accounts for $21.374 million in dead cap space.
- When Joel Bitonio’s contract voided in March, that left the Browns officially on the hook for the 2026 season with $23.504 million in dead cap space. Had he re-signed prior to that, and then retired after June 1st, the dead cap hit could have been spread out over two years. Although he announced his retirement after June 1st, he didn’t have a contract with the team, so that scenario didn’t apply.
Combined, Garrett and Bitonio account for $44.878 million of dead cap hits this season. After that, you have a slew of former players like Jack Conklin, Dalvin Tomlinson, David Njoku, Wyatt Teller, etc. who make up the rest of the big chunk.
