{"id":533848,"date":"2026-03-20T01:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T01:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/533848\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T01:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T01:29:08","slug":"why-the-dolphins-are-taking-on-175-million-in-dead-cap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/533848\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Dolphins Are Taking on $175 Million in Dead Cap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jump to a topicMiami Dolphins<\/a>NFL trades<\/a>Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>New York Jets<\/a>San Francisco 49ers<\/a>International Series<\/a>Drew Allar<\/a>Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>Chicago Bears<\/a>Washington Commanders<\/a>New England Patriots<\/a><\/p>\n

You had plenty of questions after last week\u2019s free agency-induced mailbag hiatus. As always, I had some answers \u2026<\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins<\/p>\n

From Michael Shaw (@mikeinwpb7307): Is having 50% or more of your cap in the \u201cdead cap\u201d category a new strategy for tanking? Is Malik Willis set up for failure?<\/p>\n

Michael, no. It\u2019s not. The Dolphins are what they are. Over the four draft cycles from 2022 to \u201925, Miami had a league-low total of 23 picks. From the \u201922 and \u201923 classes, they have just two players\u2014De\u2019Von Achane and backup LB Cameron Goode\u2014left. The \u201921 class is entirely gone, now that Jaylen Waddle has been traded to the Broncos<\/a>. And those three draft classes are entering Years 4, 5, and 6, so they are the players who should be in the heart of their careers.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t fix that overnight, and you\u2019re going to have to take on the dead money at some point. So for Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley, it makes all the sense in the world to do it now. Of course, taking on $175 million in dead money is a lot, and seriously hamstrings your ability to compete, but the payoff in doing it all at once will be clean sheets in 2027.<\/p>\n

And as for the Malik Willis signing, I think it relates to the challenge that Hafley\u2019s facing, which is to build a program under these circumstances. The idea would be to lay a foundation, and Hafley has to give the players\u2014most of whom have no idea where they\u2019ll be in 2027 or beyond\u2014something to believe in. Going and spending to get a quarterback you like and have been with helps inspire belief. So Willis gives guys a chance to compete individually and as a team, as the coaches and front office confront the realities of their situation.<\/p>\n

From Billy Conway (@bonescon): Does Jeremiah Smith to the Dolphins in the 2027 draft seem like a safe bet to you right now?<\/p>\n

Billy, I\u2019d say quarterback first. If not a quarterback, and Miami is drafting that high, then sure, they certainly could bring Jeremiah Smith home.<\/p>\n

NFL trades<\/p>\n

From Anthony Joseph (AJ) Gullotta II (@AJGullotta): Is Jonathan Greenard available? Considering it seems like the Dolphins are getting rid of everyone, including their young #1 WR on a relatively affordable contract, will they listen on De\u2019Von Achane, too?<\/p>\n

AJ, Jonathan Greenard is available for the right price\u2014and if you\u2019re willing to give him a raise. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s massively unhappy in Minnesota, nor do I believe that the Vikings are in any sort of rush to offload him. The Vikings would be fine keeping him aboard on his current deal, which has him at $19 million (non-guaranteed) and another $19 million next year. This all started because he wanted a raise. So if you redo his deal and give Minnesota a second-round pick, which I\u2019m not sure anyone will, maybe you can have him.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers<\/p>\n

From India Moss (@imoss92): Does Joe know there are a ton of concerns with how we are addressing the roster and how it is making a lot of Charger fans and media divided?<\/p>\n

I did not know that, India, but I would tell you that I think Joe Hortiz is one of the better evaluators in football, and I\u2019d trust that certain facets of the team are really going to show it when we get to the season.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need me to tell you how good his first pick, Jim Harbaugh, tackle Joe Alt, is, already among the very best in the sport at his position, or how much it\u2019ll mean for the team to have Alt and Rashawn Slater back this year. What is less expected, though, is the progress that I think you\u2019re going to see at receiver, behind 2024 second-rounder Ladd McConkey and 2025 second-rounder Tre Harris. Or the steps that the interior of the offensive line, with guards Cole Strange and Trevor Penning and center Tyler Bidasz coming in, is ready to take.<\/p>\n

I think slowly and steadily the roster\u2019s been remade in Harbaugh\u2019s image, and that\u2019s what sustained it last year through a slew of injuries. I know every fan base wants to see their team take the big swing and bring in the flashy vet. The Chargers were an 11-win team despite all the attrition. They have their core guys. And with a little internal improvement, some mid-level signings hitting, and improved health, this crew will be a threat in the AFC.<\/p>\n

New York Jets<\/p>\n

From Major Hawk (@MajorHawk1962): Do you think Woody Johnson directed Aaron Glenn to call plays this season, as alluded to by Wink Martindale?<\/p>\n

Major, I\u2019ve heard an element of it was the owner looking at Glenn\u2019s list of candidates and asking why he couldn\u2019t just call the defense himself. The Jets, on Jan. 16, announced they\u2019d conducted interviews with Martindale, Jim Leonhard, Chris Harris, Matheiu Araujo, Emphraim Banda, DeMarcus Covington, Daronte Jones and Jim O\u2019Neil, then hired 36-year-old Brian Duker off a fired Dolphins staff 12 days later.<\/p>\n

Maybe Duker winds up being a home-run hire. We\u2019ll see. But the way the Jets got to him wasn\u2019t the best, I\u2019d agree with that, and did before Martindale shed light on their process.<\/p>\n

San Francisco 49ers<\/p>\n

From Man-X (@ShawnMannix): Should the Niners sign brother Bosa?<\/p>\n

Man-X, I don\u2019t see why not. At this point, Joey Bosa is a rotational pass rusher, but still a good one. I thought the Bills struck a nice balance with him last year\u2014he played in 16 games, topped 70% of the defensive snaps in only four of them, and was under 60% of the snaps for another four games. He only had five sacks, but recorded 16 quarterback hits on the year, and was a productive piece of a defensive line group that lacks the 49ers\u2019 depth.<\/p>\n

I think he\u2019d be a good fit for Kris Kocurek and Raheem Morris. Here\u2019s hoping it happens.<\/p>\n

From Scott Loring (@scottloringkc): Where will Trent Williams play this season?<\/p>\n

I still think it\u2019s San Francisco.<\/p>\n

International Series<\/p>\n

From Bols (@Rbols45): Do you realistically see an NFL team based in another country happening?<\/p>\n

Bols, the NFL had a 15-year plan to accomplish that when it established the International Series in 2007, and obviously, it already missed the mark. Why? Logistics, mostly. Air travel hasn\u2019t advanced as much as some anticipated, and other projects, like expanding the regular season and adding midweek games, only made the idea of putting a team in Europe more complicated.<\/p>\n

I do think they still have aspirations to do it. But how you\u2019d make it work from a travel standpoint is still a very big question\u2014one idea, in the past, was to have a London team, with a U.S. hub in America to conduct a lot of football business, and solving that requires some things, as I see them, are out of the NFL\u2019s control.<\/p>\n

When that bridge is crossed, I do believe another big question will be whether it\u2019s by adding two teams, or perhaps an entire division in Europe. But we\u2019re a ways off from that.<\/p>\n

Drew Allar<\/p>\n

From C (@taydyl33): Is Drew Allar a second-round steel, or have I lost my marbles?<\/p>\n

C, I still remember the first starts of Drew Allar\u2019s career at Penn State\u2014and being mildly nervous that he was the quarterback that was going to take James Franklin\u2019s Nittany Lions to the next level, based on the physical traits he was flashing. Obviously, my Buckeyes didn\u2019t have that much to worry about. But I\u2019m not sure everything that went wrong was on Allar.<\/p>\n

Franklin\u2019s final OC hire, Andy Kotelnicki, was never a good fit for the big, strong pocket passer, and Penn State hasn\u2019t had a receiver drafted since Allar became a starter\u2014and probably won\u2019t this year either. Allar, by the way, likely would\u2019ve gone to Ohio State had OSU not held a commitment to Quinn Ewers (who wound up reclassifying, then transferring from Columbus), leading up to his own commitment to Penn State.<\/p>\n

How different would this look if he were throwing to Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith the last three years, in Ryan Day\u2019s offense?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question NFL teams have to ponder when considering whether or not to take a flier on Allar in April. The second round, to me, would be pretty rich. But once you get to the third or fourth round, I\u2019d start to think about it. There are issues with accuracy and feel, yet I can\u2019t shake the feeling that there\u2019s still a lot to work with there.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers<\/p>\n

From Local Hero (@HofSpillane): Will the Steelers draft a QB in rounds 1-3, and who will it be?<\/p>\n

Local hero, I know some folks believe it\u2019ll be Ty Simpson at No. 20, but that, to me at least, seems a little too close to what happened in 2022, when Ben Roethlisberger\u2019s retirement led to a bit of a reach on Kenny Pickett. So I don\u2019t think GM Omar Khan is going to force anything, particularly on a quarterback who lacks top-end traits.<\/p>\n

Now, if Aaron Rodgers is back, or Kirk Cousins is in, I could see taking a chance on a talented guy such as Allar or Arkansas\u2019s Taylen Green to redshirt and develop for a year.<\/p>\n

Chicago Bears<\/p>\n

From Taylor Staunton (@Taylor_Signals): Why does the NFL hate Chicago? Did the team dirty on comp picks for Ian Cunningham?<\/p>\n

Taylor, I do agree that the Bears should\u2019ve gotten the comp picks for Ian Cunningham becoming the Falcons GM. That job, though Cunningham reports to Matt Ryan, is not some sort of \u201cGM Lite\u201d position. But I can also see the league\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

The problem is that if you allow it, you\u2019ll start to get more funny business with titles. So, for instance, let\u2019s say the Bills, who just promoted GM Brandon Beane to president of football operations, took his GM title (he still has it, for the record) and gave it to one of his two assistant GMs, Terrance Gray or Brian Gaine. Then, let\u2019s say a year later, another team wanted to interview Gray or Gaine to run their operation. If you apply the logic that, yes, Cunningham is a GM, it\u2019d have to apply to Gaine or Gray, too, and Buffalo could block them.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a slippery thing, in general. So I get why the league makes teams designate a singular chief football executive. It basically neuters the funny business teams can pull with titles.<\/p>\n

From Thomas Clark (@ThomasClark34): With Kap and J Hood, you mentioned the Eagles\u2019 model of ownership spending to avoid cap restrictions as something that a lot of ownership groups consider. Do you think the McCaskey family is at a disadvantage in that realm due to all of their resources being tied to the team?<\/p>\n

Thomas, this is an interesting big picture question to consider. The Bears are less than $300,000 under the cap, but there are things to consider in these situations.<\/p>\n

Some teams spend cash over cap. Others want balance from year to year. On the one hand, teams that only spend to the cap may have reasons other than saving money. On the other hand, going the other way does require an owner willing to spend. The first reason is the obvious\u2014by spending cash and pushing cap into the future, you\u2019re spending past the cap. The second is less so, and that\u2019s that this usually means more big-ticket items, and more future guarantees going into escrow, via the funding rule.<\/p>\n

This is where the owner buzz term \u201ccashflow\u201d comes into play. The Eagles, for example, can only spend and build the way they do because owner Jeffrey Lurie is willing to spend in a way very few others are, which gives his team an inherent edge. And yeah, they\u2019ll eventually have to pay the piper for it, but through the current spending spree, without a reset having come yet, they\u2019ve been to two Super Bowls and won one. Which, I\u2019d say, is worth it.<\/p>\n

Washington Commanders<\/p>\n

From JedAmosT (@PRHH1974): What\u2019s the Commanders\u2019 plan for WR 2 in 2026?<\/p>\n

Jed, I\u2019d keep an eye on Brandon Aiyuk. Obviously, there\u2019s a lot of non-football things to sort through there. But if you\u2019re talking about a team that has the infrastructure to map out a road back for Aiyuk, it\u2019s the Commanders. They have a GM, Adam Peters, who was part of drafting him in San Francisco. They have a head coach, in Dan Quinn, equipped to handle it, and a receiver room, headed by Terry McLaurin, with a healthy environment. And they have his old quarterback from Arizona State, Jayden Daniels, at the trigger.<\/p>\n

Then you have McLaurin, Aiyuk, and you keep developing Luke McCaffrey, and maybe dip into a deep draft class at the position (though, with just six picks total, and two in the first four rounds, I sure wouldn\u2019t want to have to rely on that) after that.<\/p>\n

New England Patriots<\/p>\n

From Snap Judgements (@RISportsNews): What are the Patriots’ plans for CB3, behind Gonzo and CD? Two of their three losses last year came when Gonzo was hurt, and CD has only played ONE season fully healthy; last year. They can’t count on that luck again.<\/p>\n

Just to be clear, Snap, I\u2019m going on the presumption you\u2019re talking about a third outside corner, with Marcus Jones locked in as the nickel. You\u2019re right, for sure, that it\u2019s a position the Patriots would likely look a year ahead at, given that Carlton Davis III is 29 years old and turning 30 on New Year\u2019s Eve. And with 11 picks in this year\u2019s draft, I think it makes sense to grab a developmental prospect at the position at some point.<\/p>\n

From Brian Gushue (@BJGNO12): Any chance the Patriots will let grass stay at Gillette Stadium after the World Cup? It\u2019d be a shame to just tear it out after those \u26bd matches, given the millions of $ spent to prepare the field, including a new root system. Grow lights can help sustain grass; it works for the Ravens.\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

This will be a question for many teams whose players will notice this summer that their owners are bending over backwards to install grass, to adhere to FIFA regulations. It\u2019s happening in Atlanta, Foxborough, Arlington, Houston, Inglewood, East Rutherford, and Seattle\u2014with plans to go right back to the fake stuff for football season.<\/p>\n

The reality is that the stadiums have gotten so expensive that 10 football games and a few other events don\u2019t cut it for owners anymore. So they jam a zillion events into the stadiums to maximize profits, and in doing so, make it more expensive to maintain a good grass surface. Rather than spend money to do that, owners lay down turf. There\u2019s really not a whole lot else to it than that\u2014English soccer clubs use the same hybrid surface the Packers do (Green Bay has no owner to pocket the difference), and manage things fine.<\/p>\n

And as for the NFL\u2019s \u201cdata\u201d on turf actually being just fine, I\u2019d ask why 32 of 32 teams practice on natural grass fields outdoors every chance they get, even when they\u2019re playing on other surfaces on game day.<\/p>\n

More NFL from Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jump to a topicMiami DolphinsNFL tradesLos Angeles ChargersNew York JetsSan Francisco 49ersInternational SeriesDrew AllarPittsburgh SteelersChicago BearsWashington CommandersNew England…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-533848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}