The Denver Broncos are already armed with around $35 million in total cap space (according to Over The Cap) and there's plenty more where that came from. The Broncos are entering an absolutely pivotal offseason in 2025 in which they now have a legitimate franchise quarterback in Bo Nix to build around.
This is bordering on uncharted territory for the Denver Broncos. The last time a drafted quarterback was the presumptive starter from one year to the next was Jay Cutler back in 2007-08. And that was the tail end of the Mike Shanahan era in Denver, which culminated in Cutler being traded in a very messy transition to the Josh McDaniels regime.
Needless to say, nothing has quite felt like the freedom the Broncos have with Nix under contract for the next handful of years and the Russell Wilson deal coming completely off the books in 2026. The Broncos are still dealing with an extremely unfortunate $33.45 million in dead money as of right now and while they don't exactly want to be adding to that, there are some potentially necessary cap casualties to give this team ultimate free agency flexibility.
Who are the top three most likely players to be getting cut (or restructured) in the coming weeks with free agency rapidly approaching?
3 unfortunate but necessary salary cap casualties for the Broncos in 2025
1. Alex Singleton, linebacker
Whether he's flat-out cut or restructured, I don't think there's any way Alex Singleton is coming back at his current figure of $6.913 million this season. The Broncos can save $5.58 million by cutting Singleton and with only $1.333 million in dead money. Being able to get over $40 million in salary cap space available can happen just like that.
Now, of course, there would be the matter of replacing Singleton. Cody Barton and Justin Strnad, who started most of the year for Denver at linebacker in 2024, are both unrestricted free agents. But Singleton is going to be 32 this season and is coming off of a major injury. The Broncos can't justify the near-$7 million price tag to keep him without any movement on the contract.
Singleton is also a free agent in 2026, which maybe makes their decision even easier.
2. PJ Locke, safety
Cutting a starting safety would be an interesting choice for this Denver Broncos team, but Sean Payton recently said that he feels safety is among the team's offseason needs anyway. Could the Broncos upgrade over PJ Locke for the average annual value he's currently making ($3.5M AAV)? That's maybe a stretch, but there might be too much in cap savings this year to pass on.
The Broncos can save $4.19 million by moving on from Locke this offseason with only $1 million in dead cap. Yes, it opens up the safety position significantly but that might be necessary considering Locke allowed a passer rating of 125.8 into his coverage last season.
If the Broncos would cut both Singleton and Locke, they would immediately add $10 million to their available 2025 salary cap space, bringing the total to roughly $45 million in available space, and with just over $2 million in additional dead cap.
3. Damarri Mathis, cornerback
This is a tough one and the Broncos might obviously try to trade a young player like Mathis before just flat-out cutting him, but the cap hit on Mathis right now is over $3.5 million and the Broncos could save $3.325 million if they cut or trade him this offseason.
These three moves alone would have the Broncos tipping the scales toward $50 million in salary cap space, and that's not even considering they have the flexibility to restructure certain core players on the roster as well.
With the emergence of players like Riley Moss, Ja'Quan McMillian, and Kris Abrams-Draine, the need for someone like Damarri Mathis at that price tag just isn't there. Ideally, someone like Mathis could be traded but with so many players coming available in the near future, that seems like a longshot. The Broncos could take the cap savings and move on while allowing him to pick his next team.