Dolphins 2018 salary cap decisions could get interesting

On Tuesday Miami Dolphins head coach Adam Gase was uncharacteristically sprite in his post-game meeting with the media. Despite another blowout loss on Monday night, Gase didn’t seem to concerned about his teams chances to make the post-season.

Gase told reporters that they are one game out of the sixth seed and that is true. What he didn’t say is that his team has played like crap the entire season and the chances of them miraculously turning it around in the final seven weeks is about zero.

That’s good that the head coach and hopefully the players believe that. Maybe it sparks something. Anything at all would be nice. Turn this thing around and make a run. Hey it could happen right? No? We will see.

While we wait to see how the rest of 2017 plays out we can look at the salaries that will have an impact on next years roster and what Miami can or maybe should do about it. Cap numbers courtesy of OverTheCap.com.

The big money will obviously go to Ndamukong Suh who will count $26 million of the Dolphins cap room. Releasing him would save a whopping $3.9 million and Miami would eat $22.2 million. Still think that report a couple of weeks ago about Suh being cut after the season is correct?

Ryan Tannehill isn’t too far behind clocking in at $19.8 million. It does get interesting here though as Miami would only have to chew on  $4.6 million in dead space if they cut or traded him. A savings of $15 million. If that was the route they opted to take, then you can bet Miami would be in an almost total makeover for the offense.

Reshad Jones comes in third with $11.5 million on the cap. This is where Miami starts to get into trouble. Jones, Andre Branch, Kenny Stills, and Kiko Alonso all got new deals in the off-season. The guaranteed portions of those salaries accelerate into the 2018 cap if they are released. For example:

Reshad Jones – 2018 cap – $11.5 million if released Miami eats $17 million

Andre Branch – $10.0 million cap if released $11.9 million

Kenny Stills – $9.75 cap if released $13.225

Kiko Alonso – $9.6 million cap if released $13.1 million.

The cap savings combined for four players if released would save the Dolphins $14.45 million with a loss of over $55 million in dead cap space. In 2019 those numbers flip but all four still carry a high dead cap number but none higher than $5 million. Miami will not be moving on from any of those four players.

It starts to get interesting after the top six. Ja’Wuan James will count $9 million plus change and all of that is saved if he is released. Look for the Dolphins to work out a new team friendly contract. Mike Pouncey on the other hand will count $9 million. Releasing him will save the Dolphins $7 million in cap space but they will eat $2 million. This is going to be an interesting off-season development to watch. Miami should move on from Pouncey regardless of whether he makes it through the season or not.

More from Phin Phanatic

• Tua Tagovailoa practicing with teammates is everything a leader does
• 4 offensive tackles Miami Dolphins could draft at 51
• Miami Dolphins don’t need CB help but these 5 could be available at 51
• 4 players that could replace Wilkins if Miami Dolphins don’t re-sign him
• Miami Dolphins have a starting point with Wilkins after Simmons deal

Cameron Wake is entering the final year of his contract as well in 2018 but the Dolphins are not going to simply let the mid-30’s productive DE just walk. They also are not likely to want to pay him $8.6 million when all but $500k is returnable. Wake will probably be asked to restructure in order to create more immediate cap room and give Wake more money guaranteed through an extension.

DeVante Parker and Laremy Tunsil are both on rookie deals so neither of them are going anywhere although if Parker can’t get healthy maybe Miami explores trade options. They should. Parker is good but he is not first round talent elite. The Dolphins will have to extend after the 2018 season or pick up his 5th year option. Either way he is going to get a big payday. Is he worth it? No, not really. Not yet.

There is a considerable drop off in 2018 salary cap hits after those players just mentioned with T.J. McDonald making a very team friendly $2.5 million next season. Then it’s players like Charles Harris, Xavien Howard, Ted Larsen, and so on. Cap savings increase with each of the bottom half of the 53 man roster but those players also need to be replaced. The cap hits are also negligible with no players below McDonald counting more than $2 million in cap space.

Overall there are moves that can be made ahead of the 2018 season but in reality very few that do not involve a restructure of some kind. Miami has their hands full with cap issues next year and are currently sitting around $16 million and change in projected cap space in 2018.

The Dolphins are going to have to do something to create more space and there are only a handful of players that will be able to be moved and shuffled around to create it. And they still haven’t addressed Jarvis Landry. It’s going to be an interesting off-season.