Denver Broncos: Way too early look at team's 2024 cap space

How much cap space will the Denver Broncos have in 2024?

According to overthecap.com, the Denver Broncos are projected to have -$14,071,955 in effective cap space. The website defines effective cap space as "Effective Cap Space: the cap space a team will have after signing at least 51 players and its projected rookie class to its roster."

The Denver Broncos will be forced to make some moves to give themselves some breathing room. And this team isn't signing no one in free agency. They will surely extend players and bring in a few veterans if I had to guess. We've seen many teams across the NFL be very aggressive in free agency, prompting many of us to say things like "Cap space isn't real!"

Well yes, it is, but what is clear is that teams have found more creative ways to create cap space and to sign big-name players. Just look at the San Francisco 49ers; they have a ton of huge contracts on their roster; they recently paid Nick Bosa and have other huge contracts like Javon Hargrave, Arik Armstead, taking on Chase Young's rookie contract, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle. I get that the team isn't paying their QB, but man, the 49ers have a ton of huge contracts on their books.

The Denver Broncos do as well, and they will be in a cap crunch next year because of it. I guess depending on how Payton views this roster, he could restructure some contracts, which essentially pushes the heaviest cap hits down the line. He could also cut some players as well. There really isn't a perfect formula here, and I am not a cap expert.

However, we can use overthecap.com to see what kind of cap space the Denver Broncos can free up in 2024.