It didn’t take long for the Miami Dolphins to accept what the Tennessee Titans already knew – the 2020 offensive first round tackle Isaiah Wilson is nowhere near ready to play football in the NFL. And so the Dolphins, who switched to Wilson earlier in the league year last week, announced yesterday that Wilson had been released from the team.
We waive T Isaiah Wilson.
– Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) March 20, 2021
But with the deal just a few days ago, one has to ask what kind of financial implications may remain in the Dolphins’ wager on Wilson. After all, novice contracts have significant amounts of money guaranteed over the first four years of player contracts; so Miami taking on a guaranteed contract just to cut Wilson in the aftermath of the deal would be a disastrous move.
Fortunately for the Dolphins, Wilson’s previous misconduct throughout the 2020 season wiped out all of Wilson’s guaranteed money. And so the Dolphins were able to rest easy knowing that there will be no lingering implications on the team’s salary cap when they make the move.
Altogether, the Dolphins switched selections from the 7th round of 2021 and 2022 along with Wilson’s switch. But now that Wilson has been cut, the Dolphins’ limit will reflect as if he had never been to Miami: there will be no dead limit for 2021 or beyond. And Miami will recover all of Wilson’s scheduled salary for 2021 of $ 1.1 million.
The only persistent hint of Isaiah Wilson’s Miami bet is that the team must wait 12 months for their pick in the 7th round – the Titans will continue to keep the 2021 Miami squad as an initial part of the deal. A risk that is worth taking for the potential reward, but a risk that has fallen short, nonetheless.