NFL sets cap putting Miami Dolphins $33 million in spending money
By Brian Miller
$33 million is a lot of cash but in the NFL world, the Miami Dolphins have a lot less than that to actually spend once the league new year kicks off.
The NFL finally set the 2021 salary cap at $182.5 million per team. The COVID situation from a year ago saddled the NFL with dwindling cash deposits and when they agreed with the NFLPA on an opt-out system for players a year ago, we knew the cap would fall. Now, teams know what they have to spend or in some cases what they need to get down to.
The Dolphins will need to balance team needs with the available space. They will need to keep several million avaiable for rookie deals which could leave the team with about an actual spending number around $25 million this season. I expect contracts to be light in the first year with a balloon payment in year two of the deal in order to avoid problems.
Talk of Aaron Jones is a hot topic in Dolphins fan circles. So is center Corey Linsley who will likely get around $8-10 million a year. Put Jones at $9 or 10 a year and you are looking at $20 million being spent on two players depending on how the contract breaks down.
Notice we have not yet begun to discuss receivers yet.
The Dolphins have some internal moves they can make as well. Miami tendered three exclusive rights free agents earlier this week including Nik Needham but while they are not likly to sign any of their own impending free agents, they could make some more moves by next week to free up salary cap. This includes potential cuts to their receiver group. Jakeem Grant, Albert Wilson, and Allen Hurns are all players that could find themselves looking for work.
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The Dolphins are going to need to be smart with their cap but they at least have room to spend. Miami currently is the 7th highest team in cap space. The Patriots and Jets both sit at two and three. The Jaguars have more space than any other team.
Nine teams are still in the red and will need to make roster moves to get to the $185 million number. Two of those teams, the Buccaneers and Bears, used franchise tags on receivers.
Free agency will begin on March 17th but the legal tampering period will begin three days in advance so we should begin to hear more as the weekend approaches.