June 1 is a noteworthy date on the NFL calendar, generally speaking, as it typically triggers a number of roster moves around the NFL.
Prior to June 1, if a player is cut or traded, any and all dead money, usually in the form of bonus proration, accelerates into the current year, and counts toward the salary cap in the current year. If a player is released or traded after June 1, any bonus proration in future contract years won't count toward the cap in the form of dead money until the following year.
Are you still here? You haven't closed this article after that last paragraph? Thanks! Here's what it means for the Eagles this year.
June 1 releases
The Eagles like to utilize June 1 releases, so it's worth knowing a little something about them if you're into salary cap minutiae. As always, OverTheCap does a great job of explaining them. This year, the Eagles released two players with June 1 designations, CBs Darius Slay and James Bradberry.
• Darius Slay: Slay's release resulted in a dead money hit of $22,706,449 ($9,441,483 in 2025, and $13,264,966 in 2026). The Eagles will gain $4,324,000 in 2025 cap space on June 1.
• James Bradberry: Bradberry's release resulted in a dead money hit of $10,813,000 ($3,095,000 in 2025, $7,718,000 in 2026). The Eagles will gain $2,100,000 in 2025 cap space on June 1.
Retirements
Brandon Graham will "officially" retire either on June 1 or very shortly thereafter. Graham's contract ended after the 2024 season, but it has four void years tacked onto the back end that have not yet counted toward the Eagles' salary cap. He'll count for $4,560,000 in 2025 and $4,458,000 in 2026, per OverTheCap.
Trades become more palatable for some players
In 2021, the Atlanta Falcons traded Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans shortly after June 1, because it meant that they could spread out his dead money over 2021 and 2022, instead of the full amount being applied to 2021. In 2022, the Cleveland Browns traded Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers under similar circumstances. We'll see if the passing of the June 1 barrier spurs trade action around the league this year.
The one player the Eagles would be happy to trade is Bryce Huff, should the Eagles find a team interested in him. If the Eagles traded Huff they'd take on a dead money hit of $12,099,412, but doing so after June 1 would allow them to spread out that hit over two seasons ($3,024,853 in 2025, $9,074,559 in 2026), per OverTheCap. I'm not sure who exactly would have interest, though.
Huff was a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl after signing a three-year deal worth $51 million. He skipped Eagles OTAs.
How about trade possibilities for outside players?
The Eagles don't really have any obviously glaring holes on their roster, but if some team is willing to deal an impact player the Eagles do have 12 picks in the 2026 draft. Still, I would consider this possibility quite unlikely.
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
