paycheck71
Hall of Fame
Not surprised to see the Cowboys and the Raiders in the top three. The Colts dumping all their dead money in their rebuilding year sounds like a good idea for them. They'll be a force to reckon with as soon as next year. Demeco counts as 10+MM this year in dead money. That's high, but should help with cap space starting next year.
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Dead-money-disasters.html
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Dead-money-disasters.html
Indianapolis Colts ($38,790,072-Dead Money; $128,807,705-Adjusted Cap)
It is remarkable that the Colts are a playoff contender considering that 30.1% of their adjusted cap is devoted to dead money. In essence, they are operating with a $90 million salary cap because of the dead money. Most of the Colts dead money is related to releasing Peyton Manning instead of paying the $28 million option bonus in the five-year, $90 million contract he signed in 2011, which included a $20 million signing bonus. The remaining $16 million of Mannings signing bonus proration accelerated into this years cap. However, the Colts are receiving a $5.6 million cap credit since Mannings $28 million option bonus was also prorated over the five years of his contract. Manning, who had a $6.4 million 2011 base salary, made $26.4 million last year.