I can't believe it's already June! We're halfway through 2016, and only 99 days away from the NFL's Thursday kickoff opener. That also means we're 103 days away from the San Francisco 49ers Monday Night Football opener.
June 1 used to be a significant day in the offseason calendar. Teams looking to cut veterans and save cap money would wait until June 1, and that would open the door to a final notable wave of free agency. Additionally, June 1 was the date when the comp pick formula was no longer impacted. That has been changed to earlier in May, and teams for a while now have been able to "designate" a player a June 1 cut at the time of release.
There is still one notable aspect about June 1. Any player released after this point is treated as a "June 1" cut. Prior to June 1, when a player is cut, their entire dead money rolls up into the current year. A June 1 cut allows a team to split up the cap hit between the current year and the next year. So, if a player has a prorated signing bonus that is $500,000 for 2016, 2017 and 2018, there would be two potential results. A pre-June 1 cut means dead money of $1.5 million in 2016, while a June 1 cut means dead money of $500,000 in 2016, and $1 million in 2017. If a player has guaranteed base salary for future years, that rolls up into the current year.
This is most notable with roster cuts in August and September. The 49ers will cut players with dead money beyond 2016, and so they will add dead money into their 2017 salary cap. It will usually not be a whole lot, since it's primarily UDFAs that got minimal signing bonuses. But it's something to factor in, particularly as we consider potential veteran roster cuts. The two most notable examples of that are Ahmad Brooks and Antoine Bethea, who are both signed through 2017.