When the Cowboys release quarterback Tony Romo on Thursday, it will come once the new league year begins, and it will take advantage of the opportunity to release him with a post-June 1 designation.
It’s a device that was adopted in 2006, and it allows teams to apply it to two players per year.
The move allows a team to spread the cap charge from cutting a player over two years. However, it requires the team to carry the player on the books at his pre-June 1 cap number until June 1 arrives.
As to Romo, a total $19.6 million cap hit will be split into $10.7 million this year and $8.9 million in 2018. Until June 1, however, he’ll consume $24.7 million of cap space.
If my math is correct (and it rarely is), the Cowboys will gain $14 million in extra cap space as of June 1.
The adoption of the June 1 device eliminated what used to be one of the late-offseason tent-pole events for the NFL: The second wave of free agency sparked when teams cut players after June 1 and spread the cap charge over two years.