Updated Broncos cap space after first wave of free agency

The Denver Broncos have been extremely active in what feels like a "quiet" offseason, mostly due to the fact that they have moved on from big names and they've focused on re-signing a lot of role players from last year's team. But just like always, the Broncos have found ways to be in the headlines one way or another, making an unprecedented decision to release Russell Wilson prior to his 5-year, $243 million deal even kicking in, as well as trading former first-round pick Jerry Jeudy and cutting franchise legend Justin Simmons.

There has been a lot of player movement in Denver, and you can view every single move the team has made with our free agency tracker.

So how much cap space do the Denver Broncos have right now? According to OverTheCap.com, the Broncos currently have around $22.5 million in salary cap space.

Denver Broncos top 5 biggest cap hits in 2024

• QB Russell Wilson: $53 million
• OT Garett Bolles: $20 million
• WR Courtland Sutton: $17.395 million
• DL DJ Jones: $12.958 million
• DL Zach Allen: $7.7 million

Of course, the biggest cap hit on the team is from a player who will actually start at QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024. Russell Wilson will count $53 million against the cap in an unprecedented move, as the Broncos take on the larger portion of the $85 million in dead cap that Wilson will count for in total. The good news is, the Broncos arent' actually paying Wilson $85 million. They owe him $37.79 million in cash this season, but that is "all" Wilson will actually be paid by the team.

The Broncos are on the hook for dead cap space, but the primary reason Wilson was cut this offseason was because the Broncos wanted to avoid having to guarantee him another $37 million in cash next year. That $37 million guarantee would have triggered on March 17 if Wilson would have still been on Denver's roster.

Obviously, that wasn't the case. Instead of being on the hook for $76 million in cash and $85 million in cap, the Broncos are on the hook for $37.79 million in cash and $85 million in cap.

The next two biggest cap hits on the roster come from OT Garett Bolles and WR Courtland Sutton, two players whose futures in Denver have been up for interpretation as of late. As of right now, it seems like the Broncos are going to keep both of them around.

Another thing that is important to note is a common misconception about how much cap space the Broncos will have to allocate to their 2024 NFL Draft class. While the draft class itself will cost around $10 million (a typical number each year for any team, give or take), the class will not count $10 million against the salary cap immediately upon arrival.

While NFL teams have 90-man rosters, only contracts that fit into the "top 51" on the roster are counted against the salary cap. Therefore, the Broncos' rookie contract pool of roughly $10.2 million (per OverTheCap) will only count for $3.9 million against the salary cap.

If you factor that number in with the Broncos' current number of roughly $22.5 million in cap space, that would put the team's current "available" space at $18.6 million.