The Broncos’ salary cap juggling continues.
Denver converted the salaries of defensive lineman Zach Allen and left guard Ben Powers into signing bonus money and tacked on a pair of void years to each contract in order to clear another $20 million in cap space, sources confirmed Tuesday morning to The Post.
The interesting questions: Why and why now?
First a couple of nuts and bolts: The void years technically take the pair of contracts out to the maximum of five years to allow for maximum proration, but they don’t change the length of time the Broncos are committed to either player. Essentially, it works as salary cap manipulation rather than a contract extension.
Allen’s cap number drops from $19 million to $7.7 million in 2024 and Powers’ cap number reduces from $15.25 million to $6.55 million.
Keep in mind that the the difference doesn’t just disappear. It only gets kicked further down the road.
On the surface, the Broncos weren’t desperate for cap room. After signing safety Brandon Jones and kicker Wil Lutz on the first day of free agency, they had somewhere around $25 million in space to work with. Now they’re sitting in the $45 million range.
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So the natural question is why?
Well, Denver could be lining up for a splash move or two. There aren’t any marquee quarterbacks on the free agent front, but there are some really talented players left on the market, including edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Chase Young, defensive lineman Arik Armstead, linebacker Patrick Queen and receiver Calvin Ridley.
There is also the Russell Wilson matter. The $45 million in cap space assumes Denver takes the first $35.4 million of Wilson’s $85 million cap charge in 2024 and the rest in 2025. They now have the cap space, however, to take $53 million of the money this year and then be left with a more moderate $32 million charge for 2025.
Denver could also be lining up a combination of spending on players and on Wilson.
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