What the Salary Cap Jump Means (And Doesn't Mean) for the Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins will have work to do before the start of the new league year

Miami Dolphins General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan at his introductory press conference | Alain Poupart/Miami Dolphins On SI

The salary camp is going to take another solid jump in 2026, and that's good news.

But it doesn't change the fact that the Miami Dolphins still are going to have a lot of work to do between now and the start of the new league year March 11 to become cap compliant.

The 2026 salary will move a little more than $20 million and will wind up somewhere between $301.2 million and $305.7 million, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelisssero. All teams must be at or under the cap limit with their top 51 players (in terms of cap space) by that March 11 date.

Based on the new estimates, the Dolphins now find themselves about $20-23 million over what's going to become the spending limit, with only three teams more in the red — the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs.

The Dolphins currently have $328.8 million of cap commitment for 2026, according to Over The Cap, including some $35 million of dead money — cap space going to players no longer on the roster because of prorated portions of signing bonuses.

Cornerback Jalen Ramsey ($20.8 million) and Terron Armstead ($10.7 million) combined will take up more than $30 million of cap space — about 10 percent of the team's allotment — despite the former being with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the other being retired since last spring.

HOW THE DOLPHINS CAN CREATE SPACE

There more than likely will be other prominent players who will count against the cap in 2026 while no longer being on the roster, with the most obvious being Tyreek Hill.

The speedy wide receiver coming off that devastating knee injury in the Week 4 Monday night game against the New York Jets is scheduled to have a $51 million cap number for 2026 and there likely would have been little chance the Dolphins would have kept him at that number even before the injury.

The Dolphins can save $22.9 million by releasing Hill before the start of the league year, though he'd still count $28.2 million against the cap. A post-June 1 designation would save the Dolphins $35.2 million against the cap, but that cap savings wouldn't apply until June and wouldn't help Miami get cap compliant by the start of the league year.

The Dolphins also could save $3.9 million against the cap by cutting kicker Jason Sanders, which seems more plausible after the great season that replacement Riley Patterson enjoyed in 2025, though that's going to be countered by having to re-sign Patterson as a free agent.

With a current cap number of over $31 million, Bradley Chubb is another player to watch. The Dolphins could save as much as $20.2 million of cap by making him a post-June 1 cut or $7.3 million with a regular release, though the thing here is that Chubb might be the one proven pass rusher the team has and he's a team leader, so maybe Miami will try to bring him back on a restructured contract. Chubb did this in 2025 when he accepted a pay cut to return to Miami.

Tackle Austin Jackson, who's battled injuries more often than not since arriving as a first-round pick in 2020, might make sense as a post-June 1 cut that would save $11 million against the cap.

We haven't mentioned the obvious Tua Tagovailoa possibility yet because we're talking about ways to create space and cutting the quarterback actually would increase his 2026 cap number, wether it's a post-June 1 release or not. His cap number stands now at $56.4 million but goes to $99 million with a regular release or $67 million with a post-June 1 move that would create $32 million of dead cap space in 2027.

If the Dolphins want to go in full-blown rebuilding mode, they could decide to trade safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and save $5.8 million of cap space in the process.

The Dolphins have three strong candidates for extensions based on their 2025 performance with De'Von Achane, Jordyn Brooks and Aaron Brewer, and there's a way to structure new deals to lower their cap space, but those include commitments down the road, the kind of commitments that lead to dead cap space in future years.

Whatever they decide, the Dolphins will have moves to make, even if the cap is going up.