Colts salary cap: Andrew Luck retirement puts $24.8M in dead money over 2019-2020

The Indianapolis Colts will be looking for the next steps in how the quarterback room will be set up following retirement of Andrew Luck, but it will also have an impact on the salary cap.

Since general manager Chris Ballard took over in 2017, the Colts have been a team that has been very conscious of the salary cap, especially when it comes to dead-cap hits.

That is expected to change now with Luck’s retirement official as the Colts have a massive dead-cap charge from the 29-year-old’s contract.

Andrew Luck had 3 years, $64M left on his contract including a $6M roster bonus to be paid 9/17/19. He earned $97.1M in his short career w/ the #Colts. He leaves behind $24.8M of dead cap split as $18.4M in 2019 & $6.4M in 2020.

— Spotrac (@spotrac) August 25, 2019

The full impact of the retirement on the Colts and their future plans for the roster is unclear. What is clear is that the Colts will have $24.8 million in dead cap that will be sitting there as they try to make moves.

Luck is also giving up $58.1 million in future money as he walks into retirement.

In retiring, I have Andrew Luck giving up $58.1 million in future money.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 25, 2019

The Colts could also collect $12.8 million from the signing bonus proration, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Whether the Colts will actually do that remains to be seen.

Per someone who reviewed Andrew Luck’s contract, there’s nothing that prevents the team from collecting the signing-bonus proration outlined in the CBA. In short, he’d owe the #Colts $12.8 million if they chose to collect.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 25, 2019

The Luck era is now officially over, but it will have a ripple effect over the next few years as the Colts have to figure out how to work around the dead-cap money.