5 largest dead cap hits in NFL history ft. Matt Ryan and more
Matt Ryan's 14-year tenure with the Atlanta Falcons came to an end on Monday, with the Falcons taking on $40.525 million of dead cap money, making it the largest dead cap hit in NFL history. Ryan, a 4-time Pro Bowler, was traded to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2022 third-round draft pick.
To put it simply, dead-cap money is any money that counts against a team's salary cap, mostly to players who have been traded or released, like Ryan, before the end of their contract.
Ryan had signed a $150 million five-year contract extension with the Atlanta Falcons in 2018, including a $100 million guaranteed.
Earlier this month, the Falcons restructured Matt Ryan's contract, in an attempt to create more cap space. This is something they've done for four years running, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.
Now that the Falcons have cut ties with Ryan and taken on the massive dead-cap hit, it's time to look at the five largest dead-cap hits in NFL history.
The #Falcons will take on a $40.5M dead cap charge by trading away Matt Ryan. That's the largest dead cap charge in NFL history.
5 largest dead cap hits in NFL history ft. Matt Ryan
#5 - Brandin Cooks - $21.8 million
The Los Angeles Rams have never been afraid to throw their weight around, and they did so when they traded for Brandin Cooks from the New England Patriots in return for a first- and fifth-round draft pick in 2018.
Cooks was signed with $50 million guaranteed in April 2018. However, just three months later, in July 2018, before even playing a regular season snap for L.A., Cooks signed a five-year $80 million extension in July 2018.
Despite putting up a career-high 1,204 yards receiving in 2018 with the Rams, his contract wasn't worth the price in the team's view. The deal for Cooks left the Rams in $21.8 million in dead cap money after they traded him to the Houston Texans in April 2020 after two seasons in L.A.
#4 - Jared Goff - $22.2 million
Less than a year after taking the hit with the Brandin Cooks to the Texans trade, the Los Angeles Rams took another dead cap money blow when they traded quarterback Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions in 2021. Goff was traded to the Lions in return for Matthew Stafford, two first-round picks and a third-round pick in March 2021. This led to $22.2 million dead-cap money being taken up by L.A.
In April 2019, the Rams exercised Goff's fifth-year option, and just months later, he agreed to a four-year extension worth $134 million with $110 million fully guaranteed, a league record at the time.
The deal could have gone down as one of the worst in NFL history, had Matthew Stafford not come in to replace Goff and win the Super Bowl in his first season as the starting quarterback for the Rams.