MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Ghosts of the Miami Dolphins’ past hovered Wednesday, as the team’s latest incarnation conducted its opening practice of training camp at the Baptist Health Training Complex.
While there’s no doubt reason for excitement about this new era under first-year general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and first-year coach Jeff Hafley — the tandem of former Green Bay Packers who have been chosen to lead an unprecedented rebuild in Miami — they also recognize that to reach the fortunes of a better future, the Dolphins must become unshackled by the errors of their all-too-recent past.
And that’s going to take time. And money.
The Dolphins’ $179.2 million in dead salary cap is the most in NFL history, and they’re at a distinct financial disadvantage with their books clogged by players who currently ply their trade elsewhere, if anywhere at all. With roughly $120 million in cap space projected to their top-53 players, according to Over The Cap, the Dolphins are essentially rostering a team under the salary cap constraints of the 2011 season — a time when Tom Brady and Peyton Manning paced the quarterback market with contracts worth $18 million annually.
The Dolphins’ $179 million in dead cap space looms over training camp
Jeff Howe
The Dolphins are realistic about their timeline, and they were willing to let the accounting department (and ownership) take one on the chin in the short term. Even so, there was a clear method behind the mayhem.
Tua Tagovailoa became the first $50 million quarterback to lose his job for performance. Tagovailoa, who accounts for $55.4 million in dead money in 2026, was a necessary cut to symbolize a new era. From there, the Dolphins released wide receiver Tyreek Hill ($28.2 million in dead money), linebacker Bradley Chubb ($11 million) and traded wideout Jaylen Waddle ($23.2 million) for a first-round pick and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick ($13 million) in a cap dump.
Since the 2025 trade of Jalen Ramsey ($20.8 million) and the retirement of tackle Terron Armstead ($10.7 million) are still on the books, seven of the Dolphins’ nine biggest cap hits currently belong to players who won’t play a snap for them this season.
To put it another way, the Dolphins’ $179.2 million in dead cap space would equate to the fifth-most expensive unit in the NFL.
Sullivan knew what he was getting into when he took the job, however, and he and the Dolphins were decisive. Rather than slow-playing the teardown to spread out the financial burden, the Dolphins jettisoned every remaining highly paid star from the previous regime. They are willingly taking on an historic cap beating in 2026 and will still be forced to navigate around $56.7 million in dead money in 2027. Beyond that, they’re unburdened.
If Sullivan and Hafley can develop their deep 2026 draft class in the meantime, the Dolphins could have a new core in place and a clean slate with the books.
Rd.PickPlayerPos.School
1
12
Kadyn Proctor
OT
1
27
Chris Johnson
CB
2
43
Jacob Rodriguez
LB
3
75
Caleb Douglas
WR
3
87
Will Kacmarez
TE
3
94
Chris Bell
WR
4
130
Trey Moore
LB
4
138
Kyle Louis
LB
5
158
Michael Taaffe
S
5
177
Kevin Coleman Jr.
WR
5
180
Seydou Traore
TE
6
200
DJ Campbell
G
7
238
Max Llewellyn
Edge
In the much shorter term, the Dolphins have focused on culture. And with 40 players signed to one-year contracts, the Dolphins are stocked with guys who have something to prove.
That suits their overall purpose just fine.
“We brought in a lot of culture guys who we feel are wired right for what we’re trying to build,” Sullivan told The Athletic this week. “It’s a starting point. I like the culture we have, and that’s a testament to the guys we brought in, both your rookies, as well as some of the vets who are on one-years and some of the guys who were already here.
“I think (Hafley) has done an incredible job of being very upfront and messaging the team in terms of what we’re going to be about, which is mental resilience, physical resilience, work ethic, toughness. I’ve said it a million times over again. We’re going to move a certain way here, and we’re going to weed out the guys who don’t belong.”
They’ll have to be a blue-collar team because, relatively speaking, that’s who they are. Defensive lineman Zach Sieler ($11.4 million) and linebacker Jordyn Brooks ($10.9 million) own the largest cap hits on the team. Miami doesn’t have another player on the roster with a cap hit north of $7 million.
There are 316 active players in the NFL — an average of about 10 per team — with a cap hit of at least $7 million, according to Spotrac. Seiler and Brooks rank 172nd and 180th in the NFL, respectively. The Dolphins are truly a team in cap jail.
To break it down further, the Dolphins predictably rank last in both offensive and defensive cap investments, but the disparity between their peers is alarming, according to Spotrac.
They’ve got $61.9 million in offensive cap spending, while the New York Jets rank No. 31 with $96 million; the Cleveland Browns are 30th with $116.1 million. Nearly every team in the league has spent at least twice the cap space on offensive players, while the Rams, Bucs and Cowboys have tripled the Dolphins’ offensive cap spending.
Defensively, the Dolphins’ $57.6 million in cap spending trails the 31st-ranked Philadelphia Eagles by $10.7 million, while 18 teams have spent at least twice as much. The Pittsburgh Steelers ($163.6 million) tripled the Dolphins’ defensive cap spending.
Keep in mind, the Dolphins have just $11.7 million in cap space, so they’re doing what they can.
Unsurprisingly, the Dolphins are also ranked near the bottom of cap spending at the premium positions. They’re 30th at quarterback ($8.5 million), where Malik Willis is a full-time starter for the first time. They rank last at wide receiver ($13.2 million), 31st on the offensive line ($31.2 million) and the edge ($12.2 million) and 30th at cornerback ($15.4 million).
Sullivan and Hafley will focus on the foundation, both on the field and in the financials. They’ll continue to be deliberate, an approach that’s well-ingrained in Sullivan after 22 years with the Packers.
And they’ll work to try to ensure this historic bout with dead money was worth the unprecedented challenge.