From time to time I get questions about how the Denver Broncos can have Peyton Manning's fat contract, sign big-dollar free agents such as DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and Emmanuel Sanders and still be in much better shape with regard to the salary cap than the Kansas City Chiefs.
The answer is simple. The Broncos manage their cap better than the Chiefs do theirs.
According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Broncos have about $14.3 million in available salary-cap space while the Chiefs have about $2.9 million open. The difference of about $11.4 million looks even worse considering the Broncos are spending about $11.5 million more against their cap for players on their roster than the Chiefs are players on theirs.
The Chiefs, though, are spending far more against the cap on players no longer with Kansas City than the Broncos are on players no longer with Denver.
The Chiefs have almost $20 million in so-called dead money, the term used for money that counts against a team’s cap for players who have moved on. Dead money is usually the results of big-money contracts gone bad. The Chiefs have the fourth-highest total of dead money behind only the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens.
The Broncos have about $943,000 in dead money, second-lowest total in the NFL behind the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Chiefs are paying dearly for the five-year, $56 million contract they gave to Dwayne Bowe two years ago. Bowe didn’t work out, and the Chiefs released him this month.
But the bonus money the Chiefs gave to Bowe that hasn’t yet been accounted for will cost the Chiefs about $9 million against their cap this season even though Bowe is now with the Cleveland Browns.
The Chiefs have five other players no longer with the team costing them at least $1 million, or more than Denver’s total. Those players include cornerback Brandon Flowers ($4 million in dead money), tight end Anthony Fasano ($2.25 million), defensive lineman Vance Walker ($2 million), kicker Ryan Succop and linebacker Joe Mays (about $1 million each).
The total, including lesser totals for players such as wide receiver Donnie Avery and linebacker Nico Johnson, checks in at just under $20 million. That money could buy a lot, like a giant portion of a long-term contract to linebacker Justin Houston. It could have made the Chiefs serious players for cornerback Darrelle Revis.
The Broncos have no contracts like those of Bowe, Flowers and the others they lived to regret. The Broncos are accounting for about $812,000 for kicker Matt Prater, who now plays for the Detroit Lions. Otherwise, they have 13 since-departed players counting virtual pennies against their cap.
Looking at it this way, the Broncos have about $19 million more to spend than the Chiefs do. That’s why they can sign players such as Manning and the others and still be in far better shape with regard to the cap than the Chiefs.
