The Denver Broncos figured to have opened their Super Bowl window this offseason. Can that continue into 2026?
Denver handed out a ton of cash this offseason in signing free agents and retaining some of their own players, as they are beginning to see some cap free up as Russell Wilson's contract works its way off the books.
And after the 2025 NFL Season, his dead cap hits are totally gone, and Denver can officially move on from that failed trade. Well, while the NFL season this year is only just beginning, the team's cap space in 2026 could all but guarantee that even bigger things are coming.
Broncos projected to have over $48 million in cap space in 2026
According to Over The Cap, and this number can change, the Broncos are slated to have about $48.6 million in available cap in the 2026 NFL Offseason. As of now, the only dead cap set to be on their books in 2026 is about $170,000 from Audric Estime.
Denver has smartly navigated this cap situation ever since cutting Wilson. Financially, they were in a tough spot with that dead cap approaching $90 million, but they took the larger chunk of that dead cap on their books last year and will have the remaining $32 million to eat this year.
Fortunately, this process feels a bit sped up with hitting on Bo Nix in the 2024 NFL Draft, and this could end up rewarding them in a huge way in 2026. Denver is slated to have money to spend, once again, and could get even more aggressive in free agency.
George Paton and Sean Payton clearly came together with a plan back in 2023, and we're beginning to see that plan flourish. Given how financially stable this team is going to be in 2026, the franchise could only be getting better.