{"id":26625,"date":"2025-02-17T03:28:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T03:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=26625"},"modified":"2025-02-17T03:28:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T03:28:05","slug":"miamis-salary-cap-solution-involves-paying-their-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=26625","title":{"rendered":"Miami’s Salary Cap Solution Involves Paying Their Star"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It seems counter-intuitive, but the Miami Dolphins could find their way out of their salary cap crunch by dishing out\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0money this offseason rather than just cutting costs.<\/p>\n

Just last year, the Dolphins cleared up a ton of cap space by dishing out new contracts to Tyreek Hill and Tua Tagovailoa \u2014 dropping their 2024 salary cap hits from $31.3 and $23.1 million to $18.4 and $9.5 million, respectively.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a strategy without drawbacks. Those two players are now set to count a combined $66.9 million against the Dolphins\u2019 salary cap in 2025 and an astronomical $108.3 million in 2026. But the philosophy for most teams is to sort out the salary cap in the present and worry about manipulating contracts to make things work later. More often than not, kicking the can down the road works out fine.<\/p>\n

Miami cleared nearly $8 million in cap space Friday by releasing a trio of veterans. But dishing out money to these five players could save the Dolphins a whole lot more:<\/p>\n

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OLB Jaelan Phillips<\/span><\/h3>\n
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(Photo by Mike Stobe\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Phillips has had an unlucky couple of years. The 2021 first-round pick tore his Achilles in 2023 and returned only to suffer an ACL tear in 2024 after four games.<\/p>\n

Now Phillips is set to play next season on the fully guaranteed $13.25 million fifth-year option on his rookie contract. While a long-term deal for a player with a sudden string of rough injury luck would typically be a huge risk, it feels like a reasonable one for Phillips.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old pass rusher has shown a freakish ability to recover from his recent setbacks. He was back on the field in Week 1 of the 2024 season, less than 10 months after his Achilles tear. Recent video indicates he\u2019s unsurprisingly\u00a0c<\/a>rushing his knee rehab\u00a0too.<\/p>\n

A contract extension would not only have Phillips set to pair up with Chop Robinson for the foreseeable future in the Dolphins defense, it could also significantly lower the pass rusher\u2019s 2025 salary cap hit (by as much as $9.66 million,\u00a0per OverTheCap).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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