Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is loyal to a fault, if nothing else. He has every reason to move on from general manager Chris Grier, but one has to believe that Ross' last attempt to hire a GM is still stinging his billionaire mind. You all remember that Dennis Hickey debacle, right?
While Dolphins fans await the inevitable trade of Jalen Ramsey, the biggest hurdle seems to be how much dead money the team will absorb. Ramsey is slated to count $16.6 million in cap space this season, and until he is moved, we won't know the dead money amount.
We do, however, know the dead money amount Miami is currently carrying. The Dolphins have just over $30 million in dead money, and one player carries most of it: Xavien Howard.
Xavien Howard has not been with the Dolphins since 2023, but his cap hit remains steep
Howard is another prime example of Grier's failures.
Totaling $15.699 million in dead money this season, per Spotrac, Howard is an excellent example of Grier's inability to manage player contracts. Howard was given a significant contract extension, but Grier brought Byron Jones in as a free agent and paid him more. Howard staged an injury protest in camp, and Grier readjusted his deal. Howard repaid them by continuing to underperform on the field.
This year it will be Ramsey, next year it could be Tyreek Hill, maybe even Bradley Chubb as well. It would have been Terron Armstead if the veteran tackle hadn't dropped his salary.
Other notables include, Kendall Fulle, who played one season of a two-year deal counts $5.4 million in dead money, Shaq Barrett, who didn't play a single down for the Dolphins last year after abruptly retiring, carries $4.2 million. Durham Smythe ($2.2 million) and Raheem Mostert ($1 million) round out the over $1 million club.
From poor roster construction and markedly worse cap management, Grier has slid through season to season without a care in the world. This year, that "cap isn't real" talk, became quite real for a team that had 24 plus free agents heading into the league new year. Only one or two were worth bringing back.
It is an encapsulation of his failures that Howard continues to haunt Miami's cap space.