With regard to the cap situation, suppose he is traded next week since it is already Thursday:
- The Titans will take a total 2023 dead cap hit of $5.37M and a total 2024 dead cap hit of $4.74M
- Salary is paid out over 18 weeks, so 7/18 of his salary ($4.08M) would remain on the Titans 2023 cap
- The team trading for him would be responsible for 11/18 of his salary ($6.4M) and the cap hit for his rushing yards incentive ($500K) against their 2023 cap... so, just under $7M
- If he doesn't reach that incentive (1300 rushing yards), that team would get a $500K credit on its 2024 cap
This is an accurate, but a bit misjudged/guided summary. Dead cap, in a situation like this is overrated in and of itself - in that it's essentially a sunk cost metric - i.e. if Henry is released (or traded) there is dead cap remaining, but that dead cap is offset by the removal of his existing cap hit, which if greater than the dead cap, would actually result in cap savings on net. From the Titans perspective, here's would a post June 1 release or trade would have looked like at the beginning of the season to illustrate this point:
POST-6/1 RELEASE
2023 Cap Hit: $16.4 MM - Dead Cap: $15.9 MM =
Cap Savings: $500k
2024 Dead Cap: $4.7 MM
2025 Dead Cap: $2.4 MM
POST-6/1 TRADE
2023 Cap Hit: $16.4 MM - Dead Cap: $5.4 MM =
Cap Savings: $11 MM
2024 Dead Cap: same as above
2024 Dead Cap: same as above
Since the Titans have already played nearly half the season, the remaining 2023 salary would be prorated in the above equations, making the immediate cap savings in a trade scenario something like this: Cap Hit: [$16.4 MM * 11/18] - Dead Cap: $5.4 MM =
Cap Savings: $4.6 MM.
The reason I bolded the Cap Savings figures is because they are most relevant to the Titans, not the dead cap. The dead cap figures in 2024/25 are baked in regardless of release or trade, as they are part of void years. However, if they trade Henry tomorrow, that $4.6 MM in immediate cap savings described just above could be rolled over into 2024, almost exactly offsetting the currently scheduled 2024 dead cap figure.