The Miami Dolphins’ 2020 spending spree put the team off of the fringe of being an undermanned roster again this season and moved the roster into a position that competing for the AFC East isn’t an insurmountable proposition. Are the Dolphins likely to win the East this year? No, they aren’t. Not with the Bills and Patriots still looming on the horizon. But the Dolphins are a young roster with plenty of talent and even more upside — but without a firm commitment from spending in free agency, the Dolphins would be several steps further back as a roster.
The best part of Miami’s spending habits is that it doesn’t come at the expense of long-term flexibility — Miami loaded up on early cash guarantees in their 2020 signings, a decision that gave players more money up front (an incentive to sign) and avoided putting off salary cap commitments into years three and four of new contracts; a mistake made by the Mike Tannenbaum regime on several occasions.
But that structure comes with its own limitations; mainly a squeeze the team now feels as they brace to transition to the 2020 season. There’s very little extra cash to create this late in the game. The Dolphins did well to maximize their salary cap room, but they’ve squeezed just about every possible drop out of their spending power at this point in time. Miami still needs to sign two first round picks (Austin Jackson and Noah Igbinoghene) as well as top-40 selection Robert Hunt. Jackson’s contract is expected to run Miami approximately $14M, while Igbinoghene’s is projected to run around $11M, according to Forbes.
The team won’t pay for all of that up front, but it will whittle away at the team’s remaining salary cap space and leave the Dolphins without the needed cap space to sign a big name unless that talent is willing to come to Miami on a one-year discounted deal. And at that point, one has to question if such a signing fits the model of how the Dolphins are conducting business.