The Baltimore Ravens gain $6.3 million in salary cap space with the release of Justin Tucker and Marcus Williams under June 1 designations.
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. Teams like the Ravens and others around the NFL will also gain 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.
Baltimore released Marcus Williams and Justin Tucker for performance issues. That salary cap relief will kick in today.
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.
Marcus Williams
The Ravens released Marcus Williams before the start of free agency. According to Over The Cap, Williams’ cap numbers drop from $8.13 million to $6.03 million in 2025. He will also count for $6.03 million in 2026.
Justin Tucker
By releasing Justin Tucker after the NFL draft with a post-June 1 designation, his cap number drops from $7.0725 to $2.8725 million. The team will have $4.645 million in dead money in 2026.
Michael Pierce
Pierce is retiring, but leaves the Ravens with $667,000 in dead money and $1,255,000 cap savings.
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, Baltimore will carry $20,392,396 in dead money.
Odell Beckham Jr.$8,301,000
Ronnie Stanley$8,168,250
Nelson Agholor$3,283,000
Arthur Maulet$250,000
Damarion Williams$126,084
Devin Leary$103,791
TOTAL $20,392,396