2025 Salary Cap Outlook: Miami Dolphins

In this second part of a five-part series, we continue our look at the five worst cap situations in the NFL heading into the 2025 offseason. The league is coming out of the belt-tightening phase induced by the pandemic in 2020 and just six teams are in the red in Over The Cap’s projected effective cap space for 2025 — a number that’s been twice as big in recent seasons. 

Those teams will still need to make some tough, financially-driven decisions. This series will examine those in-depth, looking at which cuts and restructures could be on deck for each squad and the way in which each squad’s financial circumstance will dictate what the roster looks like in 2025. 

Next up, the Miami Dolphins: 

Dolphins: -12,427,515

One of the common themes with a lot of the teams who are restricted in what they can do from a salary cap perspective is the presence of a franchise quarterback contract — especially if the player making that kind of money isn’t playing to that level. That’s where the Dolphins find themselves after paying QB Tua Tagovailoa this past summer. Tagovailoa has been productive when he’s been on the field but lost four games to a concussion. Miami went 1-3 in that stretch, effectively handicapping their season, but even with Tagovailoa in the lineup, the Dolphins have beaten just one team with a winning record (the Rams). 

But Tagovailoa’s contract is just part of what’s weighing the Dolphins down. These are their top five cap hits in 2025: 

1. Tagovailoa ($39.5 million)
2. OLB Bradley Chubb ($29.3 million)
3. WR Tyreek Hill ($27.7 million)
4. LT Terron Armstead ($22.1 million)
5. CB Jalen Ramsey ($16.7 million)

Chubb hasn’t played yet this season as he continues to rehab a torn ACL suffered at the end of 2023. Hill is on pace for the worst season of his career. Armstead is playing well but weighed retirement last offseason and has once again battled through a wave of injuries that have limited his snaps at times. Ramsey has played well too but this is a top-heavy roster that is going to need to be reshaped to some degree, as evidenced by their 6-7 record and that red number at the top of this section. 

Re-Evaluating The Core Pieces To Build Around

Miami has already structured Ramsey’s deal in a way to manage his cap hit, with his guaranteed money spread out in an option bonus. The Dolphins did the same thing with WR Jaylen Waddle in the big deal they inked him to this past offseason, so there aren’t any levers to pull with those two. Waddle has had a down year and Ramsey is a defensive back on the other side of 30, but for better or worse they’re locked in. 

The big question with Armstead is whether he’ll keep playing in his age-34 season. He’s due over $14 million in 2025 but all of that would come off the books if he retired. If he does decide to come back for another year, Miami doesn’t have the same leverage to get him to cut his pay again, unless Armstead is feeling generous. The Dolphins used a second-round pick this past year on OT Patrick Paul to wait in the wings behind Armstead, so they have some options either way. 

Things are stickier with the other core pieces, chiefly Tagovailoa, Chubb and Hill. Tagovailoa’s compensation in 2025 was guaranteed when he signed his deal this summer. That consists of a $25 million base salary and a $25 million option bonus. His $39 million base salary in 2026 becomes guaranteed at the start of the 2025 league year as well. There’s not a realistic way out of the contract until 2027. 

Miami can restructure that option bonus and gain $19 million in cap space, which would come in handy in 2025. They’re on the hook for it no matter what and a dollar against the cap now goes farther than it will in the future as the leaguewide salary cap keeps growing, so there’s a lot of logic to doing that. It would add to the dead money bill in the future if Miami moved on, though, and Tagovailoa finds his longevity threatened on two fronts — his history with concussions and the limitations he and the Dolphins have still not been able to transcend. 

Unlike Tagovailoa, Chubb is not protected by any more guarantees on his contract going forward. He’s due $19.45 million in 2025 and will have just a few games to build a case justifying that salary. He had 11 sacks in 2023, so if he can recapture some of that form, it would go a long way, but there’s a lot of rust to shake off coming back from that torn ACL. The Dolphins have an out in Chubb’s contract if they want to take it, but it would be primarily about saving cash, not cap space. 

If Miami is sold on Chubb being worth the money going forward — their pass rush is an open question going forward with OLB Jaelan Phillips coming off a torn ACL suffered this season — then they could restructure or rework Chubb’s deal to save cap, cash or both. The downside of that would be possible reducing their flexibility to move on in the future when their cap still looks like it will be tight. It’s a tough decision and the last few games of the season could be valuable information for both sides. 

The last potentially tough decision for Miami is with Hill. Right now, the contract is designed to force a decision in 2026, the last year of the pact. Hill is due over $36 million but none of it is guaranteed. The Dolphins can either cut him or work out a new, cheaper deal when the star wideout will be 32. 

But the Dolphins have another out they could take this offseason, albeit one that wouldn’t be as clean. If Miami can find a trade partner for Hill, they would shed his $10 million base salary plus a $15.85 million option bonus that’s already guaranteed. That would result in a slight drop in cap space due to the dead money on Hill’s deal accelerating but it would clear a substantial amount of cash. 

Finding another team willing to take on all that cash wouldn’t be simple, especially because Hill’s stats have fallen off. But I do think there would be takers. Hill doesn’t look like he’s lost his trademark speed, it’s just that the Dolphins have struggled to deploy him as effectively as the past two years for a variety of reasons. The quarterback struggles have been part of it, as have the larger defensive trends around the league designed to put a lid on offenses. 

The catch with trading Hill, however, is that it would signal some level of rebuild for the Dolphins, one that I’m not sure they’re ready to embrace despite the limitations the 2024 season has exposed. 

Cuts & Restructures

If we operate under the assumption that the Dolphins will try and keep their core together for another season, restructuring Tagovailoa and Armstead (if he plays) seem like probable moves. Hill’s deal can be left untouched, keeping him on the roster and preserving the out in 2026, while Chubb’s status will likely be determined by his final few games. 

There are a few other ways the Dolphis could create cap space to try and add to the roster. Veteran DT Zach Sieler and RT Austin Jackson aren’t stars but they’re solid starters who are big pieces of what Miami has built. Restructuring both those contracts would add about $11 million in cap space. 

As far as cuts, there are a handful of veterans who will be on the chopping block: 

• CB Kendall Fuller ($2.9M)
• LB Jordyn Brooks ($3.3M)
• RB Raheem Mostert ($3M)
• K Jason Sanders ($3.3M)

The savings here are notable but also not vastly significant when factoring in the cost to add a replacement, even for the veteran minimum. Performance will be the chief dictator of who gets let go here, and right now it’s not looking great for Mostert. 

Fuller and Brooks are more borderline cases. Brooks has struggled at times and is due a $7.8 million base salary in 2025, which will be just as much of a factor in the decision as the cap savings, if not more. Fuller has been solid when he’s been on the field but has missed five games and will be on the other side of 30. Sanders has had glitches but it’s tough to name a kicker this year who hasn’t. 

Final Word

Factoring in OTC’s current effective cap space projection for 2025, the Dolphins can get to a budget of $30-$35 million for the upcoming offseason, perhaps a little more depending on how aggressive they want to be. That seems like a decent chunk, but once you factor in signing draft picks and leaving cushion to operate during the season, that number shrinks pretty quickly. They’ll have room to make a few middle-tier additions, similar to how they had to operate this past offseason, but there won’t be money for Miami to be big players in free agency. 

The Dolphins are also one of just three teams that are already in the red in OTC’s 2026 accounting, even with just 28 players under contract right now. Any restructures will add to those commitments, which is something to be aware of even if contracts for players like Hill are scheduled to come off the books.