$186,861,179. That is how much of the Miami Dolphins’ 2026 salary cap is going to players who no longer play for them, according to Over The Cap’s cap-space table. It is 62% of the league’s $301.2 million cap. It is also more than the $114.4 million Miami spends on its entire active roster, by far the least of any team.
Miami is the extreme case, but it is not alone. Across all 32 teams we count $1.63 billion in 2026 dead money, an average of $50.8 million per club. That is 16.9% of the league’s combined base cap. Here is every team, the 15 biggest individual charges, and the cap space each team has left.
What dead money is
Dead money is cap charge for a player who is off the roster. Most of it comes from signing bonuses. For cap purposes, a bonus is spread evenly across the years of the contract, so a player released or traded before the end of his deal leaves the uncounted part behind. Guaranteed salary that the team still owes counts the same way. The player is gone; the cap charge stays.
Dead money by team
| Rank | Team | Dead money | Active roster spending | Cap space |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dolphins | $186.9M | $114.4M | $6.8M |
| 2 | Browns | $119.9M | $207.1M | $11.5M |
| 3 | Saints | $117.6M | $192.3M | $7.1M |
| 4 | Jets | $116.8M | $195.8M | $10.5M |
| 5 | Cardinals | $92.3M | $223.6M | $11.7M |
| 6 | Eagles | $82.6M | $224.3M | $9.3M |
| 7 | Texans | $73.6M | $227.2M | $9.3M |
| 8 | Jaguars | $61.4M | $244.1M | $4.7M |
| 9 | Raiders | $59.0M | $247.3M | $8.1M |
| 10 | Vikings | $55.5M | $252.4M | $6.4M |
| 11 | Colts | $53.8M | $212.0M | $37.3M |
| 12 | Falcons | $49.2M | $227.8M | $27.9M |
| 13 | Bills | $49.0M | $248.2M | $3.9M |
| 14 | Packers | $48.8M | $259.1M | $6.4M |
| 15 | Cowboys | $47.9M | $267.4M | $16.1M |
| 16 | Giants | $46.1M | $246.7M | $7.4M |
| 17 | 49ers | $44.6M | $261.4M | $34.6M |
| 18 | Patriots | $44.4M | $305.5M | $2.3M |
| 19 | Titans | $39.8M | $274.3M | $28.9M |
| 20 | Lions | $34.1M | $254.0M | $34.3M |
| 21 | Panthers | $27.1M | $284.3M | $0.5M |
| 22 | Commanders | $27.0M | $275.7M | $25.5M |
| 23 | Bears | $25.3M | $274.9M | $9.2M |
| 24 | Steelers | $22.7M | $287.6M | $10.8M |
| 25 | Ravens | $19.9M | $292.3M | $1.9M |
| 26 | Buccaneers | $16.6M | $284.9M | $15.2M |
| 27 | Chiefs | $15.9M | $284.1M | $1.6M |
| 28 | Rams | $13.9M | $299.5M | $0.2M |
| 29 | Bengals | $12.4M | $296.7M | $8.3M |
| 30 | Chargers | $9.1M | $270.0M | $26.0M |
| 31 | Broncos | $7.6M | $291.5M | $4.4M |
| 32 | Seahawks | $4.9M | $306.4M | $3.1M |
Active roster spending can exceed the $301.2 million base cap because a team’s cap also includes money carried over from the prior year and other adjustments. Cap space is Over The Cap’s figure for each team’s current cap.
Four things the table shows
1. Four teams are over $100 million. Miami, Cleveland, New Orleans and the Jets each carry more than $100 million in dead money. Together that is $541.2 million, a third of the league total.
2. Miami’s ratio has no close rival. The Dolphins carry $1.63 of dead money for every dollar on their active roster. The next-highest ratio is New Orleans at 61 cents, then the Jets (60 cents) and Cleveland (58 cents). Fifteen teams are below 15 cents, and Seattle is under 2 cents.
3. The champions are at the bottom. The Seattle Seahawks, who won Super Bowl LX, carry $4.9 million, the least in the league and 1.6% of what they spend on their active roster. Seattle is spending $306.4 million on players it actually has, more than any other team. At the other end, the four $100 million teams spend $114 million to $207 million on their rosters.
4. Quarterbacks are the biggest bills. The four largest single charges are all quarterbacks. Seven quarterbacks who have left the teams charging them account for $232.3 million between them: Tagovailoa, Murray, Carr, Rodgers, Cousins, Fields and Geno Smith ($16.2 million, Raiders).
The 15 biggest individual charges
| Player | Team charged | 2026 dead money |
|---|---|---|
| Tua Tagovailoa | Dolphins | $55.4M |
| Kyler Murray | Cardinals | $46.6M |
| Derek Carr | Saints | $36.7M |
| Aaron Rodgers | Jets | $35.0M |
| Christian Wilkins | Raiders | $29.8M |
| Tyreek Hill | Dolphins | $28.2M |
| Tytus Howard | Texans | $23.7M |
| Joel Bitonio | Browns | $23.5M |
| Jaylen Waddle | Dolphins | $23.2M |
| Kirk Cousins | Falcons | $22.5M |
| A.J. Brown | Eagles | $21.8M |
| Myles Garrett | Browns | $21.4M |
| Jalen Ramsey | Dolphins | $20.9M |
| Justin Fields | Jets | $20.0M |
| Tyson Campbell | Jaguars | $19.5M |
Four of the 15 are Dolphins: Tagovailoa, Hill, Waddle and Ramsey add up to $127.7 million, before Miami’s other 35 dead-money entries. The Jets are charged for two former quarterbacks, Rodgers and Fields, at $55 million combined. Myles Garrett’s $21.4 million stays on Cleveland’s cap while he plays for the Los Angeles Rams, where Over The Cap lists him on a $40 million-a-year contract, one of the richest in the league.
Who has cap space left
Most teams have very little. The Indianapolis Colts have the most room at $37.3 million, followed by San Francisco ($34.6 million) and Detroit ($34.3 million). The Los Angeles Rams have $206,406, the least in the league, and Carolina has $533,061. Over the 32 teams, unused cap space totals $391.1 million, less than a quarter of the dead money.
Methodology
- Team totals (dead money, active spending, cap space) come from Over The Cap’s salary cap space table for 2026, pulled on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. It uses a $301.2 million base cap, the figure the NFL announced for 2026.
- Individual charges come from the “Dead Money” list on each team’s Over The Cap salary-cap page, pulled the same day. A handful of team pages total slightly differently from the cap-space table (the Jets by $161,250, for example), likely because the two pages update at different times; team rankings use the cap-space table.
- Our arithmetic. League totals, averages, ratios and percentages are our calculations. The league’s “combined base cap” is 32 × $301.2 million = $9.638 billion.
- We do not explain individual departures (release, trade or retirement) unless a source we cite says so. A dead-money charge only tells you a player’s contract money is still on a team’s cap.
The bottom line
Every NFL contract is written with the cap in mind, and dead money is the cost of the ones that did not work out. In 2026 that cost is $1.63 billion, and it is concentrated: four teams carry a third of it, and one, Miami, has more cap tied up in former players than in current ones. The Super Bowl champions carry almost none.
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Frequently Asked
What is dead money in the NFL?
Dead money is salary-cap charge for a player who is no longer on the team's roster. It usually comes from guaranteed salary and signing bonuses: a signing bonus is spread across the years of a contract for cap purposes, so when a player is released or traded, the portion not yet counted still has to be charged to the team's cap.
Which NFL team has the most dead money in 2026?
The Miami Dolphins, with $186,861,179, according to Over The Cap's cap-space table on October 28, 2026. That is 62% of the $301.2 million salary cap and more than the $114.4 million Miami spends on its active roster. The biggest single charge is Tua Tagovailoa's $55.4 million.
How much dead money is there in the NFL in 2026?
$1.63 billion across all 32 teams, by our total of Over The Cap's figures, or an average of $50.8 million per team. That equals 16.9% of the league's combined base cap of $9.64 billion (32 teams at $301.2 million).
Which NFL team has the most cap space in 2026?
The Indianapolis Colts, with $37.3 million, per Over The Cap on October 28, 2026, ahead of the San Francisco 49ers ($34.6 million) and Detroit Lions ($34.3 million). The Los Angeles Rams have the least, $206,406.
What is the biggest dead money charge in the NFL in 2026?
Tua Tagovailoa's $55.4 million charge on Miami's 2026 cap, according to Over The Cap. Kyler Murray ($46.6 million, Arizona), Derek Carr ($36.7 million, New Orleans) and Aaron Rodgers ($35.0 million, New York Jets) are next. All four are quarterbacks.