Just how much draft capital do the Miami Dolphins have at their disposal this offseason? A bunch. No, a ton. And how much cap space do the Dolphins have lying around should they choose to spend it. Nearly six figures worth of cap space. Miami has a ton to play with, which is nothing new. But instead of focusing solely on Miami’s stocked up cabinets, seeing the Dolphins’ assets stacked up versus the rest of the NFL is a fun way to appreciate exactly how much the team has to work with.
It’s a stunning image. Lee Sharpe, a football analytics personality on Twitter, recently shared a graphic illustrating each NFL team’s cap space and draft capital for the 2020 offseason in the form of a matrix. See if you can find Miami:
Each team's 2020 offseason resources.
X-axis = Draft Pick Value
Y-axis = Effective Cap Space pic.twitter.com/MDDrlcPhve
— Lee Sharpe (@LeeSharpeNFL) January 30, 2020
The Colts are Miami’s equal in cap space to spend, but no one in the league can come remotely close to touching Miami’s draft capital. This is important for two reasons — having that much ammunition to add young players through the draft is essential but also because if Miami decides they want to trade up for a quarterback, there’s no one that can stand in their way. And like a chip leader in a game of poker, the Dolphins have the opportunity to throw their weight around in negotiations and kill a potential bidding war before it even starts.
And even if that comes to materialize, Miami is still going to own more draft capital than anyone else in the league.
2019 was a trying year and a trying season for the Dolphins and Dolphins fans alike. But on the other side, this team is set up for some very fun months of team building. Relish it — it’s the first time Miami has been the king of anything in the NFL in quite a while.