Cap Question

[Reebis21]

I know a team can cut somebody before June 1st but still label them a post June 1st cut. Can they do something like that when it comes to trades? 
 

I know dead money changes quite a bit if someone is traded post June 1st vs Pre June 1st.

Anybody able to clarify that?

[chknwing]

[45catfan]

18 minutes ago, Reebis21 said:

I know a team can cut somebody before June 1st but still label them a post June 1st cut. Can they do something like that when it comes to trades? 
 

I know dead money changes quite a bit if someone is traded post June 1st vs Pre June 1st.

Anybody able to clarify that?

I'm pretty sure a trade is a trade and it hits the cap when it occurs.  I don't think you can defer a cap hit from a trade to a later date than when it actually occurs. But yes, trading a player before June 1 and after June 1 can make a huge difference.

The Lions save an extra $6M against the cap if they wait and trade Stafford after June1 for example. 

[jfra78]

Google is your friend

https://russellstreetreport.com/salarycap/nfl-salary-cap-faqs/#:~:text=How does the trade of,been paid to the player.

Quote

How does the trade of a player affect the team’s Salary Cap?

For the team trading the player, a trade is pretty much treated the same as the release of a player – the team is relieved of paying all future base salaries, but still must account for the bonus money that has already been paid to the player.  Just like with the release of a player, the remaining unaccounted-for bonus pro-rations will accelerate and count against the team’s Salary Cap.

For the team acquiring the player, a trade means that the new team acquires the player’s remaining contract, but does not have any liability for any bonus money previously paid to the player.

What is the June 1 release deadline and how does it affect the Salary Cap?

If a player is released after the CBA mandated deadline of June 1^st, the team gets the benefit of being able to spread the Salary Cap hit – or dead money – over two years.  When a player is released after June 1, the team is again relieved of paying that player’s base salary for the year in which he is released (and all future years) and the only amount that counts against the team’s Cap in that year is the player’s bonus proration for that year.  The remaining unaccounted-for bonus pro-rations accelerate against the Cap in the following year.

So, using the above example, instead of having to eat $6M in dead money in the 4^th year of the contract, the team would only have to carry $3M in dead money against the Cap for that year (which is that year’s bonus proration), but would have to account for the other $3M in dead money against the Salary Cap in the following year.

In the simplest terms, when a player is released after June 1, the team’s Cap savings for that year is the player’s Base Salary (P5), while the player’s bonus proration for that year is all that remains to count against the Salary Cap.  The balance of the player’s bonus pro-rations will count in the following year.

Post-June 1 retirements and trades are treated the same way as a Post-June 1 release.

Can teams release players prior to June 1 and still get June 1 Cap treatment?

Yes, the new CBA signed in August of 2011 left in place a provision that allows teams to designate two (2) pre-June 1 releases for post-June 1 Salary Cap treatment.  However, for the team there really is no great advantage to using this designation because the player still fully counts against the team’s Salary Cap until after June 1, at which point the player’s Cap number is treated as a post-June 1 release.

This provision is really in place to allow players to be released earlier than June 1 and hit the free agent market before teams have spent all of their free agent money and while teams are still looking to sign veterans to fill out their rosters.