Cardinals Gain Massive Salary Cap Space

The Arizona Cardinals now have an extra $16 million to play with now that we're after June 1.

Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Chase Young (92) against Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman D.J. Humphries (74) at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals received an additional $15.95 million towards their 2024 salary cap on Sunday, thanks to the Post June 1 release of tackle D.J. Humphries.

The actual release happened back on March 13, but NFL teams can designate up to two players as "Post June 1" releases per year.

Players released prior to June 1 will have their guarantees and prorated bonuses impact all hit the following season. By placing the post June 1 designation (or just releasing/trading a player moving forward now that we're past the date), that money will be spread out over two seasons rather than one.

This used to lead to essentially a second wave of free agency over the summer, but the early designation now allows teams to receive the same financial benefits as before while also allowing the player to hit the free agency pool earlier for better opportunities.

By releasing Humphries, Arizona will accrue dead cap hits of $6.91M in 2024 and $6.91M in 2025 (via Spotrac). The Cardinals would have only saved $9 million if he was a pre June 1 cut.

11 teams saw their salary cap space increase from post June 1 designations:

Other Post June 1 Releases

• Baltimore Ravens: Odell Beckham Jr. ($1.2 million in cap savings)
• Buffalo Bills: Tre'Davious White ($10.2 million cap savings)
• Dallas Cowboys: Michael Gallup ($9.5 million cap savings)
• Denver Broncos: Russell Wilson (no cap savings due to historically large contract. Will eat $53 million in dead cap this season)
• Detroit Lions: Cam Sutton ($10.5 million)
• Green Bay Packers: De'Vondre Campbell ($10.5 million)
• Las Vegas Raiders: Jimmy Garoppolo ($24 million)
• Miami Dolphins: Xavien Howard ($18.5 million)
• New Orleans Saints: Michael Thomas ($1.21 million)
• San Francisco 49ers: Arik Armstead ($17.8 million)
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Shaq Barrett ($1.91 million)

Humphries remains unsigned at this point in time after tearing his ACL towards the end of last season.

“We got to spend a year with D.J. and we’re both better for it; our team is better for it. It is really unfortunate with the timing of the injury, obviously for us as a football team and obviously for D.J. on a personal level," Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort said after the move.

"The salary cap and the way things are set up and the way contracts work; it put us in a very tough situation.

“I can’t say enough about how I feel about D.J. as a football player and even more so as a person. Just being around him. His energy, and the leadership that he brought to this team, we’re certainly going to miss him. I just hope nothing but the best for him in his recovery and his rehab.”

Arizona moved Paris Johnson Jr. over to left tackle and signed Jonah Williams on a two-year, $30 million price tag to play on the right side.

According to OverTheCap, the Cardinals have $35.5 million in cap space - fourth-most in the NFL.