Guide
Dynasty dead money explained
Dead money is the salary cap charge when you cut a player before their contract expires. It exists to prevent teams from exploiting long-term contracts by signing players to cheap multi-year deals and dropping them with no consequence. Understanding dead money is essential for managing a competitive contract dynasty roster.
How dead money is calculated
In League Tycoon's default settings, dead money has two components:
- 1.Current season: 100% of salary. The player's full salary stays on your cap for the rest of the current season.
- 2.Future seasons: 25% of salary per remaining year. For each additional year left on the contract, you owe 25% of the salary as dead cap.
| Years Remaining | Future Dead Money |
|---|---|
| 1 year (final year) | 0%, no future penalty |
| 2 years | 25% of salary (next season) |
| 3 years | 50% of salary (spread over 2 seasons) |
| 4 years | 75% of salary (spread over 3 seasons) |
| 5 years | 100% of salary (spread over 4 seasons) |
Concrete example
Scenario: cutting a $30 player with 3 years remaining
You signed a receiver to a 4-year, $30/year contract. After year 1, they're underperforming and you want to cut them. There are 3 years left.
Total dead money impact: $53 over 3 seasons. Compare that to the $90 you would have paid keeping the player for the remaining 3 years.
The math creates a real trade-off: cutting an underperforming player saves money long-term but creates a short-term cap crunch. Contending teams need to think carefully about whether they can absorb the dead money hit.
Strategic implications
Think twice about long contracts for volatile players
A 4-year deal on a player who busts creates years of dead money. Reserve long contracts for players you're confident in.
Final-year cuts are free
When a player is in their last contract year, cutting them carries no future dead money. This is the cheapest time to move on.
Trades avoid dead money entirely
Trading a player transfers their full contract to the new team. If you want to move on from a player with years remaining, trading is better than cutting.
Rebuilding teams can absorb dead money
If you're not competing this year, taking on dead money to clear expensive contracts can accelerate a rebuild. The future cap relief is worth the short-term pain.
Dead money makes contract decisions matter
Without dead money, there's no penalty for bad contracts. Dead money ensures that roster construction requires genuine long-term thinking.
Practice squad dead money
Practice squad players have different dead money rules: 25% of salary for the current season and 0% for future seasons. This makes practice squad cuts significantly cheaper, reflecting that these are development players with less cap commitment.