What June 1 Means (And Could Mean) for the 2026 Dolphins

Monday is a big day for the Miami Dolphins, who will receive more cap relief than any other team around the NFL.

What exactly the Dolphins will be doing with that additional $21.1 million of cap space (per Spotrac) remains to be seen, but it regardless gives them the operating room they didn't have before.

Once the Bradley Chubb and Tua Tagovailoa post-June 1 releases hit the books at 4 p.m. ET on Monday, the Dolphins now will rank 16th in the NFL in cap space after languishing near the bottom for the past couple of months.

The Dolphins were among the four teams who used the maximum two post-June 1 release designations this year, along with the Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, but it's the Chubb savings that's made the difference.

THE CHUBB CONTRACT

Chubb was set to count a little more than $31 million against the cap in 2026 before the Dolphins released him after three-plus seasons.

Now he'll count a little under $11 million, part of the Dolphins' staggering amount of dead space (cap space devoted to players no longer on the roster) of almost $180 million — right around 60 percent of the $301 million cap limit.

Chubb had two years and $43 million left on his contract after restructuring his contract last offseason. He had signed a big-money extension with the Dolphins after they acquired him from the Denver Broncos in a deal at the 2022 trade deadline that involved a first-round pick along with running back Chase Edmonds.

Chubb has since signed with the Buffalo Bills, who gave him a three-year, $43.5 million contract that included $21.5 million guaranteed.

Tua's contract is more well known — and infamous — with the Dolphins eating a record $99 million of cap space over the next two years. The Dolphins could get $1.2 million of cap relief next year off their $43.8 million cap hit because of the one-year contract Tua signed with the Atlanta Falcons.

The cap savings with Tagovailoa this year wound up being less than $1 million, even with the post-June 1 designation.

All told, 11 players around the NFL this year were released with a post-June 1 designation, and the Vikings at $12.5 million and Packers at $11.5 million were the other two teams that will benefit the most on this day.

THE OTHER JUNE 1 RAMIFICATIONS

With the arrival of 4 p.m. ET on June 1, NFL teams now basically can cut or trade any player with the same cap advantages as the earlier post-June 1 designations because, well, we'll be past June 1.

For the Dolphins, there are two players who kind of stand out in terms of the potential cap savings if the team wanted to go that route — and they're both linebackers.

The main player here is 2025 All-Pro Jordyn Brooks, who currently carries a $10.9 million cap hit (per Over The Cap) and very much would like to get a contract extension.

But past June 1, the Dolphins could save $8.3 million of cap space by moving him while incurring only $2.5 million of dead cap space, basically the opposite of any pre-June 1 move.

Brooks is due $7.8 million in base salary, which the Dolphins could have converted into signing bonus to facilitate an extension even with their limited cap space before June 1.

The combination of all the financial considerations is why it's been impossible to complete discard the idea of a Brooks trade, even though he's their best defensive player and a team leader.

The only potential cap savings involves Tyrel Dodson, though his situation (where the Dolphins could save almost $3 million in cap space) is not changing because June 1 has arrived.

WHAT THE DOLPHINS MIGHT DO WITH THE EXTRA CAP SPACE

The first order of business with the additional cap space will be signing the 2026 draft class, which was not feasible before because the lack of cap space.

That figures to eat up half of the Chubb cap money, leaving Miami with around $10 million to go shopping.

GM Jon-Eric Sullivan has warned against expecting any "splash signings," and given how the Dolphins operated this offseason where outside of Malik Willis the contracts given out were for one year at or close to the veteran minimum, there's zero reason not to believe him.

At least now, the Dolphins have the option to make some moves if they choose.

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