The Denver Broncos have agreed to trade wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and a fifth-round draft pick to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a third-round draft pick and a fourth-round selection (view the team’s updated 2020 draft picks here).
After trading Sanders, the Broncos have taken on a $6.9 million “dead money” salary cap hit, according to Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac.com. The 49ers will be on the hook for $6.03 million of Sanders’ salary in 2019.
Denver still has the same amount of cap space — about $10 million, according to the NFLPA — but some of the team’s used cap is now going toward a player no longer on the roster (Sanders). That’s what makes it dead money — it’s used cap space that’s not helping the team.
Sanders isn’t the only ex-Bronco counting toward dead cap this year. The team’s highest dead money hits this year are quarterback Case Keenum ($7 million), Sanders ($6.9 million), linebacker Brandon Marshall ($4 million) and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas ($3,533,334).
If Denver does not use its remaining $10 million in 2019 salary cap space, it will roll over and be added to the team’s 2020 salary cap total.
