Some of you have asked why the Saints, Broncos, and Rams opted not to carry over their full allotment of cap space. As to one of the three teams, we have an answer.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Broncos saved $267,088 in order to have extra money available if another postseason team tried to sign any players from the Denver practice squad.
The carryover decision is made at the end of the regular season. For the 12 teams that make the playoffs, it remains possible that another team still in the playoffs will try to sign away a practice-squad player. Having the extra cap space available gives the playoff team flexibility to fend off an attempt to sign a player away.
The Broncos opted to play the situation conservatively. However, none of the other playoff teams did, meaning that they couldn’t have spent any extra money to keep practice squad players or to steal someone else’s.