{"id":210596,"date":"2026-03-29T13:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T13:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210596\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T13:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T13:19:12","slug":"dolphins-2-6-million-player-gets-bad-news-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210596\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins $2.6 Million Player Gets Bad News in Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2178408451-e1774763225674.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Miami Dolphins\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>A Miami Dolphins player received some bad news regarding his contract<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/miami-dolphins\/\" title=\"Miami Dolphins\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208002\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Miami Dolphins<\/a> have taken a different approach to every other NFL team this offseason. They have cut ties with a majority of the team\u2019s high-priced players, and have primarily added players to contracts worth less than $3 million this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding Miami\u2019s unique approach, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/sports\/spt-columns-blogs\/barry-jackson\/article314852040.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter said,<\/a> \u201cWe\u2019ve never seen a team do what the Dolphins are about to try to do.\u201d Miami currently leads the league with minimum contracts on their roster, as they have 43, and the next closest team has 31.<\/p>\n<p>However, not all minimum contracts are the same.\u00a0 Some possess guarantees in the contracts, which helps the player when it comes to the final days of roster decisions. Unfortunately for one of the team\u2019s newest additions, his contract does not seem to guarantee that he will make Miami\u2019s 53-man roster heading into the 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p>Miami Dolphins Tight End Does Not Have a Guaranteed Spot\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dolphinswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/dolphins\/2026\/03\/23\/nfl-free-agency-dolphins-te-ben-sims-contract-details\/89284247007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">USA Today writer Mike Masala<\/a> noted that Miami Dolphins<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/miami-dolphins\/dolphins-sign-replacement-for-departure\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> free agent addition Ben Sims\u2019 <\/a>contract does not guarantee him a spot on the team\u2019s final roster for Week 1. Masala wrote:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMiami gave Sims a one-year deal worth $1.33 million for 2026. That contract includes a $1.15 million and a $187,500 signing bonus. With the signing bonus being the only guaranteed money in the deal, the Dolphins could cut Sims any time before Week 1 and only have the $187,500 dead cap hit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Dolphins signed Sims as they were looking for a replacement for tight end Julian Hill, who signed a three-year $18 million contract with the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/new-england-patriots\/\" title=\"Patriots\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208004\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Patriots<\/a>. Miami could have retained Hill, but they opted to non-tender the restricted free agent as they did not want to offer him a $3.5 million contract.<\/p>\n<p>Hill\u2019s role on the Dolphins was primarily as Miami\u2019s blocking tight end, a role that Sims could potentially fill in Miami if he does make the active roster. Miami\u2019s front office is familiar with Sims, as general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan was previously the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/green-bay-packers\/\" title=\"Packers\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"208003\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Packers<\/a> vice president of player personnel, and Sims spent three seasons with the Packers.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding Sims\u2019 potential role on the Dolphins,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/dolphins\/onsi\/news\/breaking-down-miami-s-tight-end-depth-01kkj2pbkbmy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\"> Sports Illustrated\u2019s Jake Mendel wrote<\/a>, \u201cSims has a chance to leapfrog the group as No. 2 on the depth chart. He lacks production as a pass catcher, primarily because he\u2019s blocked on 361 of his 520 regular-season snaps.\u201d If Sims does manage to become Miami\u2019s No. 2 tight end, then his $1.15 million contract will be a bargain, and he will add to his $2.6 million in career earnings.<\/p>\n<p>Dolphins\u2019 Free Agent Additions<\/p>\n<p>While most of Miami\u2019s additions are facing similar situations to Sims, there is one outlier. Quarterback Malik Willis signed a three-year, $67 million contract with $45 million guaranteed, which practically ensures he\u2019s Miami\u2019s starting quarterback during the 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the team seems to value having communication with their quarterback as it was recently revealed that the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/miami-dolphins\/insider-update-malik-willis-nfl-draft\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dolphins front office informed Willis of the Jaylen Waddle trade<\/a> prior to it occurring.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was in the know of this decision, and he is still all in on the plan, just like they were when they signed him in free agency. This isn\u2019t a shock adjustment to what particularly happened. Malik Willis was signed because they view him as a potential long-term answer there. It\u2019s not just a Band-Aid addition.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CameronWolfe\/status\/2037685808346317202\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">NFL Network insider Cameron Wolfe said on the March 27 edition of The Insiders.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/joseesquer8000\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jose Esquer<\/a> Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter\/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/joseesquer8000\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Jose Esquer<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Dolphins\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty A Miami Dolphins player received some bad news regarding his contract The Miami Dolphins have taken a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-210596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}