The terminated contracts of nine players will count roughly $25 million in dead money on the Green Bay Packers’ salary cap during the 2022 season. Dead money occurs on the cap when a future proration is accelerated by a contract termination made by the team.
For instance, let’s say a player signs a three-year contract with a $3 million signing bonus. The bonus doesn’t hit the cap all in Year 1; it’s prorated $1 million on the cap for each of the three years. So, if the player is released after his second season, the remaining $1 million must be accelerated onto the team’s cap as dead money that year.