Dolphins Restructure Contracts to Get Under Cap Limit
The first day of the free agency negotiating period was tough on the Miami Dolphins in terms of personnel losses, but they did accomplish a major task when they got under the salary cap limit of $255.4 million.
The Dolphins got that done by restructuring the contract of four veterans, most notably cornerback Jalen Ramsey. The others were defensive tackle Zach Sieler, fullback Alec Ingold and tight end Durham Smythe, all of whom signed contract extensions last year.
All the moves involved turning base salary and roster bonuses into restructure bonuses, per spotrac.com.
The big move clearly involved Ramsey, with whom the Dolphins created almost $20 million of cap space by converting $13.9 million of salary and an $11 million roster bonus into a signing bonus, according to spotrac, in the process adding a third void year to his contract. The restructure bonus of almost $25 million will be spread out over the next five years.
The move dropped Ramsey's 2024 cap number by $19.9 million, from $27.9 million to $7.9 million.
Ramsey signed a three-year contract extension after the Dolphins acquired him last offseason in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams for tight end Hunter Long and a third-round pick in the 2023 draft.
The contract technically now runs through 2028, but in reality it's more like through 2025.
NEW DEALS FOR SMYTHE, INGOLD, SIELER
The restructures of the contracts with Sieler ($5.6 million), Ingold ($1.66 million) and Smythe ($1.6 million) added another $8.8 million of cap space for a total of cap saving topping $28 million.
That surpassed the deficit of $23 million with which the Dolphins entered the day and made them cap-compliant.
As with Ramsey, the moves with Sieler, Ingold and Smythe added void year to their contracts.
The Dolphins also restructured the contract of tackle Terron Armstead, according to NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport, though the amount of cap savings wasn't immediately known.
The Dolphins need some additional wiggle room beyond just being cap compliant to be able to sign free agents, understanding the league is under the top 51 rule where only the top 51 cap numbers count against the limit until all rosters must be trimmed to 53 players after the end of training camp.
Ingold and Sieler are signed through 2026 and Smythe through 2025. All three players now have two void years at the end of their contracts.
