I just looked again at the source code and you are correct - I was wrong - the "cap used next year" _does_ include dead cap. I apologize for the misinformation!

Good to know.

Thanks

Very good to know. I thought I was in complete cap **** in MFN-1 lol

When it says cap for draft picks, that counts as part of room under cap right?

That's just to help you know what your current slate of draft picks is going to consume on your cap. You can of course change that by trading your picks. It's not counted in your total cap numbers.

So this is correct!?

"Cap used next year" does include "Dead cap"
"Cap used next year" does not include "Need for Draft Picks"

...means:

Total Cap: 130Mio
Cap used next year: 100Mio
Dead cap: 10Mio
Need for Draft Picks: 30Mio

Room under cap after Draft = 0

yes, that's correct

Is it?

I think you would need to clear $10M in Cap space either by cutting/trading or not signing a rookie

The dead cap is included in the cap used figure. Jdb is simply informing you, how much money you're paying people not to play for your team.

And remember you just have to comply with the cap in time for the first preseason game, so if you are tight, it is absolutely ok to go into camp slightly over the cap and then cut your draft busts in order to get under the cap.

Just be sure you have time for this as you don't want the AI doing the cuts for you.
This will also lead to having less bodies to share the preseason injury risk with that strategy