For example, if a team has $10 million in dead money because of this rule, they would have had $25 million if not for this rule…meaning they can sign $15 million more in long-term contracts that season. more money for players. More dead money from the cap. A team could literally have a cap figure of $80 million, with monies attributable to 20 or more players over years of bad contracts, and this would be a huge benefit to the players. Eventually, it is going to hurt the team…but for a big-market team, it won’t be much of a bother because, as Kurt writes above, those teams can afford the luxury tax.