The Miami Dolphins worked their way through the 2019 season with one of the more bare-bones rosters in recent NFL history. The Dolphins effectively paid no one. They traded away a number of their significant assets and did it all in the name of added salary cap space and draft selections — for added flexibility. That part of Miami’s rebuilding plan? It has worked. The Dolphins stormed out of the gates in 2020 and spent big on a number of free agents, rolling up payroll in an effort to boost this roster in Brian Flores’ vision to become a more competitive unit.
We expect that will work. But what is the total count on cash?
The Dolphins’ drastic shift in spending habits has bubbled the team’s 2020 current payroll to $189.6M, which is the 10th highest figure in the league. That number will, of course, shift once the Dolphins get credit for the departure of safety Reshad Jones. And if the Dolphins’ ranking of 10th feels abnormally high, no worries. The cap credit for cutting Jones will drop Miami five spots into a tie for 15th in league spending; right in the middle of the road. The Dolphins also have nearly 80 players on their roster — the rest of the NFL’s teams have numbers lingering in the mid-60s. So the Dolphins have a strong head start on their 90 man training camp roster — but the writing on the wall here is that more transactions are coming.
Why?
Because if the Dolphins make each of the 14 NFL Draft selections they’re currently scheduled to make, they’ll run out of room on their 90-man roster. So that may mean more cuts, it may mean more trades and it may mean shuffling up and down the draft board via trade as well. But the Dolphins’ sizable offseason roster has this team closer to a 90 man unit than any other team in the league — and their spending is starting to show for it, too.