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Miami Dolphins quiet as other NFL teams begin contract restructures

By Brian Miller

Dec 5, 2021; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins punter Michael Palardy (5) punts the football against the New York Giants during the second half at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2021; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins punter Michael Palardy (5) punts the football against the New York Giants during the second half at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Miami Dolphins are in a good position with their roster. While they have 23 impending free agents, they also have nearly $70 million in cap space.

Around the NFL, teams are beginning the process of paring down their roster and making contract restructures to get closer to the NFL’s 2022 cap on March 16th. There is plenty of time but for some teams, an early start will surely help.

So far, the Dolphins haven’t made any decisions on their free agents to be and they haven’t restructured any contracts or terminated any players on their roster. On Saturday the team hosted their annual Dolphins Cancer Challenge, another successful event that raised money for cancer research.

With the weekend coming to a close, one would have to assume that the team would get down to business soon.

In New Orleans, the Saints have reportedly restructured the contract of receiver Michael Thomas and Green Bay has reportedly worked out a new deal for David Bhaktari. Miami has the privilege of sitting tight because only a few of their FAs, Mike Gesicki, Emmanuel Ogbah, and Mack Hollins are likely needing early attention.

Looking around the NFL, Miami’s surplus of cap space is elite.

According to OverTheCap.com, the Dolphins have the most money to spend and they can create more as we looked at earlier this month. Miami will carry $1.6 million in dead cap money, for now. They have $60 million of space that isn’t including several other available funds.

The Jaguars are number two with just under $4 million less and the Chargers are close behind the Jaguars. The drop then lands on $49 million for the AFC Champion Bengals who are in great shape. The Dolphins rival Jets are $48, the Patriots are at $8 million, and the Bills are negative $6.5 million.

In this era of NFL football, cap space is important but easily manipulated. Teams that are in the red no longer need to release big contracts just to get under the cap and can always find ways to spend on free agents. We saw this in Tampa Bay prior to last season.

The worst teams in the NFL are the Saints (-42), the Packers (-30), the Cowboys (-22) and the Rams (-21) in millions. This year 11 teams are over the cap but only six are more than $10 million over.

Free agency will begin on March 16 with legal tampering allowed to begin three days earlier.

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