Quoting from the article...
"As for the concern that these contracts are going to mortgage the future for the Broncos; nothing could be further from the truth. These deals are so well constructed that people should be throwing a party for Elway and salary cap guru, Mike Sullivan. Yes the numbers are big and on the surface it seems like the Broncos are going to be stuck for the next five years regardless of how the players perform. Without boring all of you to death with a lot of detail, let me try to explain why these contracts as so well done.
There is a lot of guaranteed money for all three of the players but unlike other teams, the guaranteed money is not spread out over the life of the contact. The players will receive all of their guaranteed money in 2014. That means after next season if something goes wrong with an injury, poor play or whatever then the Broncos can get out of the contract at anytime. In short, after 2014 the Broncos could cut anyone of these three players and not owe them a dime. There would be no dead money.
Dead money is a term that refers to money being paid to players who are no longer on the roster, and this happens when teams spread out the guaranteed money over the life of the contract. Once a player is cut, any guaranteed money not yet paid is accelerated into the year they are cut. That in a nutshell is why the Dallas Cowboys are in salary cap purgatory. The easiest way to think about it is like this; when teams spread out the guaranteed money over the life of the contract, it’s a lot like using a credit card. Eventually there’s a big bill. The Broncos are paying cash as they go and currently are in no danger of getting one of those big bills.
I can only hope that the Player's Union is going over this with a fine toothed comb. Ditto for the league office.