2026 NFL Positional Spending Rankings: Dead Money

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Here’s a ranking of all 32 teams based on the amount of dead money they have hitting the salary cap in 2026. Dead money is a term used for cap hits for players who are no longer on the roster. Teams have various accounting tricks they can use to massage player expenses, but eventually every dollar paid out must be accounted for on the books. Historically, clubs have worked hard to avoid dead money because in a salary-capped league where every team has the same spending power, it’s obviously inefficient to be paying players who are elsewhere. However, as the NFL salary cap has grown leaps and bounds, we have seen teams become more willing to take on bigger dead money hits. Not coincidentally, we’ve also seen teams bounce back faster from those lean years. The Miami Dolphins blew past the NFL record for dead money this year and will be eyeing 2027 as a return to competitiveness. All salary information compiled via Over The Cap . 1 – Miami Dolphins Total dead money: $179,214,257 Percent of salary cap: 59.50 percent Biggest single dead money charge: QB Tua Tagovailoa ($55,400,000) 2 – Cleveland Browns Total dead money: $116,820,743 Percent of salary cap: 38.79 percent Biggest single dead money charge: G Joel Bitonio ($23,504,000) 3 – New Orleans Saints Total dead money: $112,153,153 Percent of salary cap: 37.24 percent Biggest single dead money charge: QB Derek Carr ($36,674,000) 4 – New York Jets Total dead money: $111,469,354 Percent of salary cap: 37.01 percent Biggest single dead money charge: QB Aaron Rodgers ($35,000,000) 5 – Philadelphia Eagles Total dead money: $74,461,130 Percent of salary cap: 24.72 percent Biggest single dead money charge: WR A.J. Brown ($21,843,496) 6 – Arizona Cardinals Total dead money: $73,320,820 Percent of salary cap: 24.34 percent Biggest single dead money charge: QB Kyler Murray ($46,568,966) 7 – Houston Texans Total dead money: $66,578,375 Percent of salary cap: 22.10 percent Biggest single dead money charge: OL Tytus Howard ($23,689,000) 8 – Las Vegas Raiders Total dead money: $55,808,720 Percent of salary cap: 18.53 percent Biggest single dead money charge: DT Christian Wilkins ($29,775,000) 9 – Jacksonville Jaguars Total dead money: $54,798,874 Percent of salary cap: 18.19 percent Biggest single dead money charge: CB Tyson Campbell ($19,520,000) 10 – Buffalo Bills Total dead money: $46,216,379 Percent of salary cap: 15.34 percent Biggest single dead money charge: LB Matt Milano ($11,071,000) 11 – Green Bay Packers Total dead money: $45,525,605 Percent of salary cap: 15.11 percent Biggest single dead money charge: OLB Rashan Gary ($17,042,273) 12 – Minnesota Vikings Total dead money: $45,332,240 Percent of salary cap: 15.05 percent Biggest single dead money charge: DT Jonathan Allen ($12,666,666) 13 – Atlanta Falcons Total dead money: $44,151,125 Percent of salary cap: 14.66 percent Biggest single dead money charge: QB Kirk Cousins ($22,500,000) 14 – Dallas Cowboys Total dead money: $42,447,651 Percent of salary cap: 14.09 percent Biggest single dead money charge: DT Osa Odighizuwa ($16,000,000) 15 – New England Patriots Total dead money: $38,489,465 Percent of salary cap: 12.78 percent Biggest single dead money charge: S Kyle Dugger ($12,177,778) 16 – San Francisco 49ers Total dead money: $36,281,074 Percent of salary cap: 12.05 percent Biggest single dead money charge: DT Javon Hargrave ($16,156,528) 17 – Detroit Lions Total dead money: $33,131,673 Percent of salary cap: 11.00 percent Biggest single…