The day after the regular season ends in the NFL is known as \u201cBlack Monday\u201d because that is the day teams start making coaching changes. Monday, February 16, has become a pseudo-Black Monday for veteran Miami Dolphins players. The team, in need of resetting their salary cap after several years of big spending, made several roster moves Monday morning, releasing veteran players for salary cap savings heading into 2026.<\/p>\n
That move was quickly followed by news the team was releasing wide receiver Tyreek Hill<\/a>. The eight-time Pro Bowl receiver missed most of the 2025 season after a knee dislocation and ligament tear sustained during the Dolphins Week 4 Monday Night Football game against the New York Jets. Hill could provide the Dolphins around $22.9 million in cap space.<\/p>\n Miami could designate players as post-June 1 cuts, which would increase the cap savings for this season, but would not create space against the cap until June 2 and would push additional dead money into 2027. No indication of the team using that designation has been reported.<\/p>\n The Dolphins\u2019 salary cap moves did not stop with those two. According to NFL Network\u2019s Tom Pelissero, Miami also released guard James Daniels<\/a>. The veteran offensive lineman had signed a three-year contract with the Dolphins as a free agent in 2025 after spending four years with the Chicago Bears and three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. A second-round pick by Chicago in 2018, Daniels only played in one game for Miami during the season after sustaining a pectoral injury in Week 1.<\/p>\n