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Dolphins Salary Cap Outlook Slightly Improves

Alain Poupart

Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Terron Armstead (72) during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Terron Armstead (72) during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
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The Miami Dolphins' salary-cap situation is looking a little bit better, thanks to some unexpected good news.

The NFL has informed teams before they head to the scouting combine next week to expect the 2025 salary cap to be between $277.5 million and $281.5 million, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.

The salary cap last year was $255.4 million, so we're looking at an increase of somewhere between $22.1 million and $26.1 million. The salary cap jumped $30.6 million from 2023 to 2024.

The cap number, higher than the $272 million projection by overthecap.com, is good news for every team in the NFL, but particularly those with tight cap situations, and that clearly includes the Dolphins.

Using the figure exactly in the middle of the cap range reported, $279.5 million, the Dolphins now are on the positive side with $1.6 million of cap space, per overthecap.com, though they're $6.7 million over when the rookie class is factored in.

The Dolphins are in the sixth-worst position when it comes to getting to the cap limit by the start of the league year March 12. The five teams in worse shape are the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and, as usual, New Orleans Saints.

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THE DOLPHINS STILL HAVE WORK TO DO

The Dolphins began creating cap space last week when they terminated the contracts of veterans Raheem Mostert, Kendall Fuller and Durham Smythe, and they're not done yet.

The Dolphins not only have to get under the cap with their top 51 cap numbers by March 12, they also need to create additional to sign players, which is of significance considering they have only 46 players under contract for 2025 at this time and 25 impending unrestricted free agents.

The Dolphins have nine players with a current 2025 cap numbers exceeding $10 million, topped by Tua Tagovaialoa's $39.2 million. The others are OLB Bradley Chubb ($28.7M), WR Tyreek Hill ($27.7M), T Terron Armstead ($22.8M), CB Jalen Ramsey ($16.7M), T Austin Jackson ($13.5M), OLB Jaelan Phillips ($13.3M), DT Zach Sieler ($12.4M) and LB Jordyn Brooks ($11M).

Any number of those contracts could be restructured or extended to create additional space.

Whatever they do with that extra cap space, the Dolphins' offseason cap maneuvering got easier, even if just a ittle.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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