Although the Dolphins did not sign a single player for a standard 2021 contract this month, the club still lost about $ 8 million in cap space, as Barry Jackson and Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald report. This is because some players obtained incentives in their contracts that increased their 2021 limit costs
For example, WR DeVante ParkerThe maximum number of 2021 has increased from $ 11 million to $ 12 million, while security Eric RoweThe company’s number has grown from $ 5.05 million to $ 6.05 million. As such, Miami now has $ 25.4 million of limit space, assuming that the $ 180 million floor does not increase.
This is not an insignificant amount of room for maneuver, but the Dolphins have a number of high-value choices in the draft, including No. 3 and 18 general selections and two second-round choices. If they keep all those choices, Miami would need to allocate about $ 11.9 million to its draft class, by Jackson and Beasley. This does not leave much room for the team to conduct the rest of its business out of season.
After all, the ‘Fins will need to sign a wide receiver, a backup QB and several linebackers, and will also need to sign again C Ted Karras or acquire a new center (although Jackson and Beasley say the club is high in Wisconsin-Whitewater OL Quinn Meinerz, Miami will not deploy a D-III rookie as its starting pivot).
Dolphins have many options for creating additional space, including safe cutting Bobby McCain or restructuring the linebacker’s contract Kyle Van Noy. And the situation would be completely changed if the club negotiated with the Texans QB Deshaun Watson, which appears to be a legitimate possibility.
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