Financial Relief Coming for Dolphins
Think of the Miami Dolphins as a middle class family getting their income tax refund from the government in the next few days.
While the influx of money creates a level of excitement, there are pending bills to pay, and wouldn’t it be nice to pay down some of that credit card debt?
How about making a major purchase?
Everyone anticipating that when the $13.6 million in cap space the Dolphins will receive June 1 for the official release of cornerback Byron Jones might be setting themselves up for a letdown.
The Dolphins need to use some of that cap space ($3.8 million, to be exact) to sign the four draftees — cornerback Cam Smith, tailback De’Von Achane, tight end Elijah Higgins and offensive lineman Ryan Hayes.
It’s a good thing Miami still has $2.5 million in cap space leftover after all the offseason moves made up to this point.
But what can be done with $12.3 million in cap space?
Talented Free Agents Still Available
The Dolphins would benefit from adding a veteran defensive lineman like Akiem Hicks, or a linebacker like Anthony Barr, Rashaan Evans or Myles Jack.
Miami signed veteran pass rusher Melvin Ingram to a one-year, $4.4 million deal last May, after the draft. And then added Trey Flowers in late August, signing the pass rusher to a one-year deal worth $2.1 million.
There are still talented, capable free agents looking for work, and Miami could use the cap space to put some finishing touches on the 2023 roster by adding one, or three.
The Dolphins would benefit from adding a veteran on every level of defense heading into training camp.
Cap space carryover needed
However, for most of this decade — with last year being the lone exception — the Dolphins typically have carried $9-13 million in cap space into each season for “break in case of emergency” situations.
What are those? It’s when Miami signed quarterback Jay Cutler to a $13 million deal weeks before the start of the 2017 season because of the season-ending injury Ryan Tannehill suffered in training camp.
The Dolphins acquired pass rusher Bradley Chubb from the Denver Broncos and Jeff Wilson Jr. from the San Francisco 49ers at the trade deadline last year. Miami had to restructure linebacker Jerome Baker’s contract to make those deals fit into Miami’s accounting.
That “break in case of emergency” fund would give Miami the financial freedom to seize on possible trades, or lure upper-echelon free agents — possibly Minnesota tailback Dalvin Cook — who surprisingly hit the market.
And what isn’t used becomes cap carryover added to the team’s finances next season.
The Dolphins routinely have been one of the NFL’s most fiscally responsible teams, which is evident in their cap carryover from season to season.
But this summer tough decisions need to be made about a number of young players in their prime since there are a handful of veteran starters looking for new contracts.
Impending free agents want deals
Three starting defensive linemen — Christian Wilkins, Zach Sieler, Raekwon Davis — and offensive linemen Connor Williams and Robert Hunt are impending free agents and likely will continue to push for a new deal before the 2023 season begins.
Overall, there are 28 Dolphins players set to play on the last year of their existing deal.
Veteran players in their prime dislike beginning a season without a multi-year deal because then they shoulder all the risk if an injury happens.
Look at cornerback Nik Needham, for instance. Needham, a four-year starter for Miami, signed a restricted tender worth $3.99 million last season instead of pushing for a multi-year deal, and he wound up tearing an Achilles in October.
While the Dolphins were gracious enough to re-sign Needham to a one-year deal worth $1.67 million, which paid him a $152,500 signing bonus and guaranteed him nearly $600,000, his drastic pay cut (nearly half) serves as a cautionary tale reminding players in the final year of their deals to handle their business when it’s time to do so, which is the offseason.
No matter how the Dolphins carve up the $13.6 million in cap space that’s coming this week, the franchise should consider it a blessing because it will create much-needed financial relief.
