Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier faces a daunting challenge with the team's 2025 cap space, and recent news doesn't bode well for his spending options.
The Dolphins will need to make a lot of moves this offseason, and not having money to spend will be prohibitive. With potentially 24 players hitting free agency, Grier must work wonders with the cap. If his job security is on the line beyond 2025, it will be interesting to see what he does with current contract restructures and releases in an effort to possibly save his job.
According to Over The Cap, NFL teams submitted their carryover salary from 2024 to the NFL. Teams who did not use all of their salary cap space during the year can carry some of that money into the next season. The San Francisco 49ers ($50 million) and Cleveland Browns ($41 million) are at the top of the NFL. The New York Jets ($345,000) are at the bottom.
The Dolphins will carry over $3.001 million into the 2025 NFL season.
The news for the Dolphins gets worse as it relates to cap space
OTC has also adjusted each team's cap space with the new carryover amounts. With the additional $3 million, they still have the Dolphins in the red at $11.9 million. There is no adjustment for the annual salary cap increase, which will help.
Last week, we looked at how the Dolphins could save over $16 million in space with roster moves. Adding the eventual and inevitable contract restructures, the Dolphins could potentially gain another $20-30 million.
While restructuring works to create cap space in the short term, it pushes money down the road. If Grier hopes to keep his job beyond 2025, he may not care too much about the shift, with the hopes of dealing with it later (or someone else having to do so).
Regardless of what Grier thinks his future is, his present is going to be filled with moves that won't be easy to make this year. The Dolphins have almost two and a half months to figure things out, but one thing is certain: they will have a lot of work to do before free agency begins on March 12.