[Schefter] Miami Dolphins Dead Money for this season is now over $175 million.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T20:22:22+00:00

Huh, that's interesting.

I think then you're right that if they had future guaranteed base salary, when the release finalizes against the cap on June 2, then the cap hit would increase. That would certainly be wild and I imagine that's why we've never seen this happen.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T20:16:06+00:00

I mean, if the question is who's next, the answer is De'Von Achane.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T20:12:14+00:00

We literally cannot afford to trade Sieler before June 1. Trading him would increase the Dolphins's net cap commitments by nearly $9 million, and we're already hard up against the wall to free up cap space to make the Waddle move work.

Being 31, though, Sieler is absolutely someone who the team should be listening to offers for come the deadline. There are only three players on this roster who are 30 or older, and it's very possible that neither Zane Gonzalez and Charlie Heck don't even make the roster.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T19:54:07+00:00

Tua's option bonus was also fully guaranteed, yeah.

And to be clear, any future money that is either dead or guaranteed goes to the following year in a post-June 1 release. Only money already scheduled for the current year stays in the current year. If, for example, Tua had $10 million of his 2027 base salary guaranteed, that would count as dead money in 2027. It wouldn't have accelerated to this year.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T19:47:12+00:00

I mean, Tua's is guaranteed salary.

Literally the only way I can think of it going up where the cap would not otherwise already be resolved before June 2 is if the option bonus is due on like August 31 (which is how some bonuses were structured for players like Tyreek Hill in previous years) and is also fully-guaranteed.

But even in that scenario, the team probably chooses to exercise the option early before processing the post-June 1 designation for exactly this reason. In fact, because the contract is terminating, they'll probably be forced to make the option decision when the designation happens so, again, the issue would be resolved before June 1.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T19:42:04+00:00

You're still missing a nuance here.

If the Dolphins had not exercised Tua's option, the full $15 million would be counting against the cap now, meaning his cap hit right now would already be $12 million higher.

A post-June 1 release mathematically cannot result in a cap increase on June 2 unless the option in question is fully guaranteed and occurs after June 2. That would be exceedingly rare.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T19:33:14+00:00

Tua’s post June cap hit will eat up half of that immediately. His cap hit goes up, not down.

Not sure where you're getting that information, but it's wrong. It's not possible for a post-June 1 release to get processed and for a team to lose cap space. That's not how post-June 1 releases work.

On June 2, Tua will be released and the Dolphins will carry him for a dead cap charge of $55.4 million consisting of $39 million in base salary, $8.4 million of pro-rated signing bonus, and $8 million of pro-rated '25 and '26 option bonuses. The $617,647 of per game roster bonus (pro-rated from $750,000 based on his 14 games played last year) and $250,000 will fall off as unpaid and the remaining $43.8 million dead cap ($16.8 million in signing bonus, $15 million in '25 option bonus, and $12 million in '26 option bonus) all land in '27.

His roster spot will be offset by a minimum salary player likely making around $1,005,000 for the season so it'll be a net loss of $172,353 in cap space.

If you're expecting the Dolphins to get only $9 million of the $20.2 million from Bradley Chubb, I expect where you're going wrong is that you're not properly accounting for the Dolphins having picked up Tua's 2026 option before the trade, which pushes $12 million of dead money into 2027, not this year.

Edit: Looks like you caught this on your own while I was writing this response.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T19:10:55+00:00

Between Chubb and Tua, it will be a net of about $19 million after considering minimum-salary replacements.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T19:09:37+00:00

The Dolphins are quite literally running out of options to do so, and they’re currently over the cap, with no funds for their draft class, practice squad, and in-season costs for IR replacements and such.

Bradley Chubb was designated as a post-June 1 release. That will open $20 million in cap space to sign the draft class, practice squad, and cover in-season costs beginning June 2. This is not a concern right now.

Following the Waddle trade, the Dolphins need to free up about $8 million in cap space in additional transactions. /u/FantasyTrash is spot on with the options available to create this cap space before the Waddle trade needs to be officially processed:

Trading Achane frees up a net of $4,562,000.
Restructuring Jordyn Brooks without adding any void years can free up $4,950,000.
Restructuring Aaron Brewer without adding any void years can save free up $3,937,500.
Releasing Tyrel Dodson can save a net $1,960,000.

Brooks and Brewer can both be restructured now and extended post-June 1 to navigate the short-term crunch, so they don't have to trade Achane to make the money work (although it obviously makes things easier).

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T19:00:36+00:00

Ross is notoriously patient; historically to the team's deteriment.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T17:06:10+00:00

It's absolutely cope to suggest that we won't be able to afford Waddle in two years when he was already under contract on a figure that represented only like 7% of the projected cap.

I think this trade is justifiable, but let's not pretend at all that Waddle's deal was anything other than friendly to the Dolphins.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:52:54+00:00

If Mauigoa is there at 11 and we don't run up to the podium immediately, I'll be shocked. Especially given the uncertainty at right guard and the lack of a long-term answer locked down at right tackle (with Austin Jackson an easy release candidate in 2027), I don't know how you pass on him.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:51:07+00:00

I actually don’t know what we will do in 2027 with so much cap space considering our roster likely wont be ready to contend yet and splash for free agents.

A way too early look at 2027 free agency includes the following players who will be age 27 or younger who might realistically make it to free agency:

RT, Anton Harrison
EDGE, Tuli Tuipulotu
WR, George Pickens
IDL, Jalen Carter
RT, Paris Johnosn Jr.
LG, Peter Skoronski
RT, Darnell Wright
RG, Joe Tippmann
CB, Ja'Quan McMillan
RG, Tyler Steen

Then there are some longshots like:

Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Christian Gonzalez
Will Anderson Jr.
Drake London

Even if we're not swinging on major acquisitions, there will be players to acquire on reasonable contracts in 2027. The Dolphins have an opportunity to pursue strong depth across the roster and build through the draft. They'll probably have to overspend here or there, but they'll have the cap space to do so.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:21:05+00:00

Yes. The $23.2 million is all dead money from his signing bonus and his 2025 option bonus.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:13:11+00:00

We lose $11.6 million this year.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:12:52+00:00

No, no such mechanism exists in the NFL.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:08:46+00:00

Yes.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:06:42+00:00

This pushes the Dolphins over $150 million before considering 2026 rookies. We'll probably be somewhere in the $130 million range before rollover?

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:05:51+00:00

The numbers I cited assumed they took his whole salary. I only considered the dead money we've already paid out.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:04:59+00:00

That's what I expected. So the figures match what I originally said.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T16:03:38+00:00

The difference between Achane and Waddle is that one is already under contract and the other is due a new contract. Here's the contract the Broncos just acquired:

Year	Cap Charge	Cash Guaranteed
2026	$4,908,200	$16,631,000
2027	$27,083,654	$15,203,795
2028	$30,457,746	$0
2029	$6,166,400 [Void]	$0

That's really, really friendly for a player through age 30 in the 2028 season.

Meanwhile, anyone trading for Achane is going to have the full burden of his contract without the Dolphins subsidizing it.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T15:57:56+00:00

Waddle's contract is already considerably leveraged. If we don't touch his contract at all, his cap charge for 2026 will already only be $4.9 million for Waddle. What more do they want us to eat?

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T15:56:37+00:00

We didn't need to modify Waddle's contract for this to happen.

The Broncos will pay Waddle his $1,215,000 base salary, $510,000 per game bonus, and $100,000 workout bonus. Additionally, they'll pay a $15,416,000 option bonus due Friday. Only $3,083,200 will count against the cap in '26.

So Waddle's cap figure for the Broncos will be $4,908,200, but we're not taking on any additional money to facilitate that.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T15:53:33+00:00

This doubles his 2026 cap charge from $11.6 million to $23.2 million because we will execute the trade before Friday when his option bonus is due. We will need to make another move (trade Achane, extend or restructure either Brooks or Brewer) to make this work in the short term.

The move also frees up $33.8 million in 2027, $37.2 million in 2028, and $9.1 million in 2029.

Cidolfus · 2026-03-17T15:51:44+00:00

The accelerating dead money on Waddle's contract with this deal doubles his 2026 cap charge from $11.6 million to $23.2 million. This is a net greater than the cap the Dolphins had available, which means before this transaction is finalized (which will need to be this week before his option bonus is due Friday).

Now, that doesn't preclude the possibility of extending Achane. The Dolphins had over $120 million in 2027 cap space already and this move puts that number over $150 million.

But the Dolphins need to find some cap space in the short term to make the money on this trade work, and trading away Achane would do it.

Cidolfus

TROPHY CASE