The Broncos needed a little bit of breathing room on their salary cap.
They made an adjustment to a contract with an injured player in order to create it.
Denver converted $6 million of wide receiver Tim Patrick’s $8 million in base salary into bonus money, a source confirmed to The Post, allowing them to prorate the $6 million out over Patrick’s two remaining contract years and creating $3 million in cap room for 2023.
Because bonus money is prorated over the life of a contract (up to five years), taking money Patrick already would have made and paying it as bonus allowed for the Broncos to save cap space this year.
According to NFL Players Association and , Patrick’s base salary was $8 million and the conversion brought it down to $2 million. The prorated bonus amounts — the original signing bonus Patrick received when he signed a three-year, $30 million extension in 2021 plus conversions the past two years — now total slightly over $6 million each of the next two seasons. That resulted in a cap charge of $8.072 million for 2023, down from $11.072 million before the restructure.
Patrick’s cap hit jumps to $16.072 million in 2024 — up $3 million with the proration — but consider that if the Broncos end up rolling over the money they cleared this year, it essentially just covers Patrick’s increased number next year.
Why make the conversion now?
Thursday marks the NFL’s shift into regular-season salary cap rules, meaning teams have to account for their entire 53-man roster, injured reserve and practice squad players rather than just the top 51 contracts, which is the offseason rule.
According to OTC data, the Broncos now sit at about $1.3 million in cap space. ESPN first reported Patrick’s restructured deal.
Patrick, of course, is out for the season after tearing his Achilles tendon near the beginning of training camp.
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