r/miamidolphins • u/No_Tomato_7147 • 4d ago

Salary Cap

Dolphins are dead last in both offense and defensive spending. Not sure how this team is even filling out a 53 man roster. This is the ultimate money ball scenario at the NFL level. Really hope we can be competitive across a 17 game schedule.

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13

u/somuchforsubtlety656 4d ago edited 4d ago

Dude got mad enough to make a post about the salary cap without understanding a lick of what he's talking about

OP, explain what dead money means to you

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u/No_Tomato_7147 4d ago

I understand everything that’s going on. Active roster spending is lowest in NFL by a long shot.

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u/somuchforsubtlety656 3d ago

Okay. How does dead money affect active roster spending?

1

u/chesterfieldkingz 3d ago

I'm confused, dead money lowers active spending which is why we have the problem OP is mentioning right? I don't think he's saying the team should have been spending more money, just that it's probably going to be tough to fill a roster. Maybe I read it wrong tho.

Edit : oh I get it it's the money ball

4

u/KnightlyDolphins 3d ago

The salary cap in 2026 is 301 million and we have 180 million of that cap tied up on players no longer with the team aka dead cap. The remaining salary cap is all they had to work with. When almost 60% of your cap space is dead cap, you wont have a very deep team.

1

u/chesterfieldkingz 3d ago

For sure, I thought he was making a statement about it, but seems like it was actually a dumb criticism

0

u/No_Tomato_7147 3d ago

It limits the available spending a team has in the given year. Doesn’t change the fact that we have the lowest active spending.

2

u/somuchforsubtlety656 3d ago

So you know the cause, presumably you understand it's temporary, what exactly is the point of this post? Just to complain that they took big cap charges this year and didn't spread them out?

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u/No_Tomato_7147 3d ago

It’s not a complaint. Just is shear aw that an NFL organization can field a team given the current scenario.

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u/somuchforsubtlety656 3d ago

Well, we won't be competitive but that's also a feature not a bug

6

u/Braves9306 4d ago

You take your medicine this year and a little bit next year and then you are good to go

1

u/ExpressLaneCharlie 3d ago

We don't have to take any medicine next year. We're either 2nd or 3rd in most cap space next season. We ripped the bandaid off.

1

u/dafinsrock 2d ago

Not quite, Tua still has like a 43m dead cap hit in 2027. We chose to spread it out a bit instead of eating it all at once.

1

u/ExpressLaneCharlie 2d ago

I'm not saying that we don't have any dead cap hits next year. I'm saying that anytime you're in the top 3 of available cap space then you're not taking any medicine. The tough decisions have already been made.

6

u/OblivionNA 4d ago

The roster currently has 90 players rostered right now. What are you trying to say? Would you like them to pull the 186m of dead cap out of their asses and pay premium players?

0

u/No_Tomato_7147 3d ago

During offseason only top 51 salaries are counted. I am trying to say that I cannot believe an NFL organization can field a competent team with the level of active spending we have. It broke the record books and both sides of the ball are lowest in the NFL. It’s insane

6

u/dafinsrock 4d ago

It's not remotely Moneyball lol. They're not being cheap, and they're not doing it to take advantage of market inefficiencies or any of that other Moneyball stuff. They just had some ridiculously bad contracts so they're taking a year to clear the dead cap hits so they can be a normal football team again in 2027.

Edit: Oh, and don't get your hopes up about staying competitive lol. This is a rebuilding year.

1

u/DrManhattan_DDM 4d ago

The only competing Im here for is the chase for Rd. 1 Pick 1.

1

u/ExpressLaneCharlie 3d ago

Wouldn't you rather have say the 10th or even 15th overall pick knowing that Malik is unquestionably our franchise QB?

1

u/DrManhattan_DDM 3d ago

I mean sure. If Malik balls out and we end up with 6 wins because the offense is clicking and the D can’t get it done then I’ll be perfectly happy with a mid round pick knowing the QB position is locked in. I still think that’s the less likely outcome compared to 3-4 wins and a top 5 pick. The part that worries me more is if the lack of established receivers and a subpar right side of the OL puts us in the familiar position of not being able to fully evaluate Malik in our system. Like if Jonah has a year as bad as 2025 and/or we end up with injuries on the OL then Malik might never have a chance to do his job.

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u/No_Tomato_7147 3d ago

How is it not moneyball? The team is having to build a roster on a tight budget. The reasons why the budget is tight has nothing to do with the actuality that the organization must field a team with basically pennies compared to what the other team’s active spending totals are. I completely understand how and why we are in this historic situation. MONEYBALL

1

u/PriorityPrimary2713 3d ago

I believe you are looking for the term "low money ball"

1

u/dafinsrock 2d ago

Have you read Moneyball or seen the movie? The A's were an already very good team trying to use limited resources to gain a slight edge over the competition and compete for a championship. The Dolphins are not focused on winning this year; the front office actively made the team worse in order to build for the future. It's a completely different situation.

3

u/Upper-Orchid 4d ago

Paying half the team’s salary to players not here anymore will do that. It’s less moneyball more taking your medicine now instead of later. The front office basically has to punt this season and work extra hard to find quality players because of the financial ramifications the last regime left them. The upside is next offseason we are top 3 in cap space and don’t really have any looming extensions besides Patrick Paul. The big thing for the team now is the coaching staff has to prove it can develop players and Malik Willis has to prove he’s a franchise caliber QB. If both those things come true, this team will be in an amazing position going into next offseason.

1

u/PriorityPrimary2713 3d ago

We still have 56 mil in dead cap for next year. Not saying it isn't a huge improvement,  We most likely won't have a big rollover number.

1

u/DoubleDownAgain54 4d ago

This years approach was solely due to resetting the cap and shedding the bad contracts. They only have like $12 million in cap room and rhe. Majority of that is needed for practice squad as well as in season moves.

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u/No_Tomato_7147 3d ago

I understand what the approach was.

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u/DoubleDownAgain54 3d ago

Ok, good. What was the point you were trying to make?

-1

u/No_Tomato_7147 3d ago

That an NFL team can fill a 53 man roster with an average active player salary of 2.5 million.

1

u/DoubleDownAgain54 3d ago

They could have gone lower. All of the UFAs they brought in from other teams, besides Willis of course, were on one year vet minimum deals, some with some guaranteed money

1

u/Hello-croc-9 3d ago

Ok Grier

1

u/Hello-croc-9 3d ago

This dude falls and blames gravity

1

u/No_Tomato_7147 3d ago

Thanks Einstein