Last week, the Broncos had about $1.5 million in salary cap space. This week, the team has more than $11 million in cap space.
Denver didn’t make any major cap-saving cuts when the team finalized a 53-man roster, so the math didn’t seem to add up.
It turns out, quarterback Joe Flacco helped create the extra cap space.
The Broncos converted $17 million of Flacco’s 2019 salary into a signing bonus, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. That move saved the team $13.6 million in salary cap space. Denver also added two voidable years to Flacco’s contract.
Flacco was happy to agree to the restructure because it gives him more money up front and the Broncos were glad to get it done because it will give the team more salary cap space. The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala provided a nice summary of the decision on Twitter:
Denver did a similar restructure with outside linebacker Von Miller in 2018, converting $16 million of his $18.5 million salary into a signing bonus. That created about $12.375 million worth of extra 2018 cap space.
The Broncos now have around $11 million in cap space. If the team does not use the cap this season, it will roll over and add to the 2020 total.
