Where the Salary Cap Stands After Draft Class Signings

The Miami Dolphins completed the process of signing their 2026 draft picks this week

Alabama Crimson Tide tackle Kadyn Proctor is selected by the Miami Dolphins as the number 12 pick during the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The final tally is in now that the Miami Dolphins have signed their entire 2026 draft class, and they now are left with about $12.3 million of cap space.

The Dolphins' first eight picks wound up making it to the top 51 of cap numbers, according to Over The Cap, and the differences between their numbers and the eight that got bumped down below the top 51 amounted to a little less than $8 million of cap space.

The eight 2026 draft picks whose cap numbers now count against the limit of $301.2 million are Kadyn Proctor, Chris Johnson, Jacob Rodriguez, Caleb Douglas, Will Kacmarek, Chris Bell, Trey Moore and Kyle Louis.

The other draft picks — Michael Taaffe, Kevin Coleman Jr., Seydou Traore, DJ Campbell and Max Llewellyn — all fell below the threshhold with cap number ranging from $919,000 to $1 million.

The Dolphins announced the final two draft pick signings Thursday with Johnson and Traore, after the signing of Proctor became official Wednesday following the announcement of 10 signings after the first practice of minicamp Tuesday.

Proctor, the 12th overall selection in the draft, got a four-year contract (plus a fifth-year option for the Dolphins) worth $26.1 million with a $15.5 million signing bonus.

As head coach Jeff Hafley indicated before practice Wednesday, the signing of the draft picks was pretty much a formality all along based on the CBA dictating the salary figures depending on the draft slot, with the only arguments these days possibly being offset language and guarantees.

FULL GUARANTEE FOR RODRIGUEZ

The Dolphins again fully guaranteed the four-year contract of not only their first-round picks but also second-round pick Jacob Rodriguez after setting the precedent last year with guard Jonah Savaiinaea.

The Dolphins now rank 22nd in the NFL in 2026 cap space with their $12.3 million, not necessarily an ideal spot but much better than most of the offseason when they were in the bottom three with less than $2 million of wiggle room.

Even with the additional cap space, don't expect the Dolphins to make any splash signings because that's just now how they've operated all offseason.

With the latest signing, for example, wide receiver Jalen Reagor, the former first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, got a one-year contract for the veteran minimum and a cap hit of $1.1 million.

He was among the eight player whose cap number fell below the top 51 after the signing of the draft picks, the others being WR Terrace Marshall Jr., CB A.J. Green III, TE Cole Turner, T Carter Warren, and second-year players Ollie Gordon II, Quinn Ewers and Zeek Biggers.