Eagles gain $6.42M of cap space thanks to June 1 designations for Slay and Bradberry

It's not the official start of summer in the NFL, but June 1 is a massive date around the league and will likely play a factor in several players moving on or teams taking a risk on a considerable trade.

In NFL terminology, June 1 is the final day that teams see all future prorated money accelerate as “dead money” if a player is released. This morning, Philadelphia gained salary cap space, as any player designated for a post-June one release earlier this year will move from the active roster to the dead money side of the books. Darius Slay is now a Steelers cornerback, and James Bradberry is a free agent, but their salary cap ramifications will be felt in the coming season.

June 1 impact

June 1 marks the final day of the NFL calendar when a player is cut or traded; any future bonus money accelerates into the 2025 league year. Starting tomorrow, the rules allow the team to defer all that acceleration to 2025 if they release a player. June 2nd also marks when the NFL will officially process the post-June 1 designations.

Starting Thursday, June 2, any released player will only have his current season’s prorated money count against the salary cap, and the rest will be deferred to 2026.

Darius Slay

According to Over The Cap, Darius Slay will see his cap number for the Eagles drop from $13.77 million to $9.44 million this year. He will count for $13.26 million on the cap in 2026. Slay signed a 1 year, $10 million contract with Pittsburgh following his release.

James Bradberry

Philadelphia released Bradberry before the start of free agency, and according to Over the Cap, his salary cap number drops from $4.86 million to $2.76 million, with $7.75 million in dead money hitting the books in 2026.

Trade time

Lots of trades happen after the June 1 date, and a player to watch was soon-to-be former Eagles pass rusher Bryce Huff, who could use a change of scenery. Had the Eagles cut Huff before June 1, they'd have a dead cap hit of $28,849,412 on their books and a cap loss of $21,438,559.

UPDATE:

Philadelphia is indeed finalizing a deal that'll send Huff to San Francisco for a mid-round pick. The agreement should be officially announced in the coming days.

According to Over the Cap, the Eagles will pick up about $3.6 million with the trade of Bryce Huff and the retirement of Brandon Graham. Huff will have $4.94 million in dead money this year and $16.614 million next year.

What is dead cap money in the NFL?

Dead money, which is also known as "dead cap space" or simply "dead cap."

Dead money is a salary cap charge for a player no longer on a team's roster. Typically, it stems from guaranteed money already given to a player in the form of signing bonuses who is either released, traded or retires. In the event that the team and player part ways before the end of the contract, whether it's via a release, trade, or retirement, the remaining prorated bonus accelerates onto the team's current salary cap. That creates the dead money charge, which ensures the total value of the contract paid by the team matches the overall cap charges the player accrued while with the organization.

According to Over The Cap, Philadelphia will carry $55,531,930 in dead money.

Jason Kelce -$16,438,000

Josh Sweat -$16,438,000

Fletcher Cox -$10,100,000

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Jr. -$4,620,000

Mekhi Becton -$3,484,706

Devin White- $2,193,412

Zack Baun -$1,900,000

Dylan McMahon -$139,575

TOTAL- $55,531,930

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Eagles gain $6.42M of cap space on June 1