Cardinals Salary Cap Tracker: Cap Space, Dead Money and New Contracts

Feb 3, 2026; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort at a press conference at the Cardinals training facility. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Cardinals Salary Cap Tracker: Cap Space, Dead Money and New Contracts

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Mar 9, 2026 9:00 AM ET

Add us as a preferred source on Google

The Arizona Cardinals are moving into free agency with plenty of spending power, and potentially more on the way.

The Cardinals, as of Monday, are sitting close to $50 million in cap space with two restructures in Sean Murphy-Bunting and James Conner likely pushing that number close to $60 million, though official figures haven't emerged as of yet.

Here's where Arizona's cap situation currently stands:

Cap Space

Entering Monday, the Cardinals have $48 million in cap space and $36.5 million in effective cap space according to OverTheCap. For those unaware, effective cap space removes the projected draft class salary needed from the total, giving more of a true sense for how much each team has for its free agency period.

The Cardinals have all seven picks near the top of each round of the upcoming draft, which will see their class finish as more expensive than most in the NFL.

The initial $48 million figure will wiggle a bit, mostly in the positive depending on three different moves they previously made that have yet have known designations.

The restructures for Conner/Murphy-Bunting is expected to generate a sizable amount of change (likely around $10-12 million) while Kyler Murray's pending release can sway Arizona's total, too. Pre-June 1 will see the Cardinals lose $2 million off their total while Post-June 1 will see them add $5 million to their 2026 total.

Dead Money

The Cardinals currently carry $21.1 million in dead cap space, but that number is set to skyrocket when Murray's release is officially processed.

Arizona, if Murray's a Pre-June 1 cut, will see another $54.7 million added in dead cap space. This would push the Cardinals safely inside the NFL's top three with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins atop. Post-June 1 would be $47.5 million in dead cap.

Other players carrying dead cap hits for the Cardinals this offseason include:

Jonah Williams ($7 million)
Dalvin Tomlinson ($6.8 million)
Justin Jones ($3.25 million)
Bilal Nichols ($2 million)
Akeem Davis-Gaither ($1.5 million)
DeeJay Dallas ($333,334)
Xavier Thomas ($186,446)

New Contracts

Along with updated deals to James Conner and Sean Murphy-Bunting, the Cardinals also re-signed kicker Chad Ryland and punter Blake Gillikin to new contracts over the weekend.

As Monday approaches, that's about it. Arizona's subtracted just as much as they've added to this point after cutting the likes of Dalvin Tomlinson, Bilal Nichols and Akeem Davis-Gaither.

This number will increase as we move closer towards March 11, when the 2026 league year officially begins.

The Cardinals have 27 players set to hit free agency with the legal tampering period here.

This article first appeared on Arizona Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: