The Miami Dolphins’ salary cap situation up for a bit of a debate. Because while Miami ranks 8th as things currently stand in their 2021 cap space across the league, their rough estimate of cap spending power (somewhere around $34M) is perceived as a tough number to swallow and the Dolphins are perceived to be facing a scarcity of spending power in 2021.
So which is it? Are the Dolphins in good position relative to the rest of the NFL or are they a team that is going to struggle to “keep up” relative to the heavy hitters in free agency next month?
Ultimately, Miami is operating under the same unexpected deviation from the salary cap trend as everyone else. And yes, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets and New England Patriots are projected to boast nearly twice the salary cap as Miami is projected to have on the books. But when you consider what the rest of the league currently looks like from a cap and spending power perspective, not every free agent in the league is going to flock to one of the four teams with a dramatic excess of cap.
Will it prevent the Dolphins from locking in some of the premiere free agents? Probably. The team can’t realistically offer Allen Robinson $20M per season. Nor can they offer Lions WR Kenny Golladay the reported $16M per season he’s looking for (not that he’s a fit for Miami as things currently stand). But there are somewhere around 10 teams around the league currently projected to sit over the salary cap without having conducted a transaction. Another three have less than $10M in cap space. Miami’s projected cap space is more than double the team than ranks 17th to sit atop the bottom half of the league.
Everyone has a money problem right now, with the exceptions being the Colts, Patriots, Jaguars and Jets. And once those teams concede the financial desires of some of the top free agents, then what? Miami will be as well positioned as nearly any team to find fair market price based on what the restrictions of the 2021 cap will allow.
So while the Dolphins don’t have as much cap space as what was anticipated before a global pandemic delivered a major blow to the league’s revenue sharing, they’re still in great shape relative to the league with wiggle room to create significant more space with a few simple cuts. Releasing Albert Wilson, Jakeem Grant and Clayton Fejedelem, for example, saves over $7M against the cap. Each of these three figure to be marginalized players with the points of emphasis Miami carries into 2021.
And that doesn’t even get into some of the creative restructures Miami can do to some of their short-term contracts to manufacture more space or any strategic moves involving players like Bobby McCain (who the team could save over $5.5M against the cap for if they chose to part ways this offseason).
The point being this: the Dolphins’ cap situation allows them plenty of flexibility to make a competitive offer to any player on the market. And that, relative to the rest of the league, is a great place to be. Unless you’re measuring them to one of the four top-cap teams in the league. But even then, give them a signing or two apiece and suddenly Miami can find themselves on equal footing next month.