Roster and Cap Status

[fyo]

The following only deals with cap hits, not what players are actually getting paid.

Only starters and notable backups are listed.

Notable free agents are listed in their respective position groups.

Only notable dead money at the moment is $13 M remaining from Suh's contract.

Always remember that any cap savings are PRIOR to signing a replacement.

Also remember that designating a player a post-June-1 cut only spreads the cap cost over two years. It does NOT reduce overall cap hit compared to normal cut.

OFFENSE:

POS	Player	Cap Hit	Notes
QB
	Ryan Tannehill	$26.6 M	Half could be saved by cutting him, the remaining spread over two years if designated post-June-1 cut.
	Brock Osweiler	0	Free Agent.
	David Fales	0	Free Agent.
RB
	Frank Gore	0	Free Agent
	Kenyan Drake	$1.0 M
	Kalen Ballage	$0.7 M
	Brandon Bolden	0	Free Agent.
WR
	DeVante Parker	$9.4 M	Can be cut without cap hit.
	Kenny Stills	$9.75 M	Six million saved by designating him post-June-1 cut, $4.3 M otherwise.
	Danny Amendola	$6.0 M	Can be cut without cap hit.
	Albert Wilson	$8.3 M	Would incur extra cap hit to cut.
	Brice Butler	$0.8 M	Can be cut without cap hit.
TE
	Nick O'Leary	$1.1 M	Has $100 k signing bonus rollover that would still count, but otherwise no cap hit if cut.
	Mike Gesicki	$1.5 M	Twice as costly to cut as to keep.
OL
	Laremy Tunsil	$4.0 M	Contract guaranteed, so no savings.
	Ted Larsen	$2.3 M	There is a $400 k prorated bonus, but the rest can be saved if cut.
	Travis Swanson	0	Free Agent.
	Jesse Davis	0	Excluse Rights Free Agent, meaning the Dolphins can basically have him for league minimum.
	Ju'Wuan James	0	Free agent.
	Jost Sitton	$7.0 M	Savings of $5.0 M in cap if cut. Only has 1 more year on his contract, so hit cannot be spread over two years.
	Daniel Kilgore	$2.4 M	Can be cut without cap hit.
	Sam Young	0	Free Agent.
	Zach Sterup	0	Free Agent.
	Isaac Asiata	0	Exclusive Rights Free Agent.

DEFENSE:

POS	Player	Cap Hit	Notes
DL
	Cameron Wake	0	Free Agent.
	Davon Godchaux	$0.7 M	Prorated bonuses of $100 k, the remaining saved by cut.
	Akeem Spence	$2.5 M	Can be cut without cap hit.
	Robert Quinn	$12.9 M	Can be cut without cap hit.
	Andre Branch	$9.0 M	In his last contract year, so the $2.0 M prorated will count, but $7.0 M could be saved with cut.
	Charles Harris	$3.0 M	Would cost twice as much to cut as to keep.
	William Hayes	0	Free Agent.
	Vincent Taylor	$0.7 M	$600 k can be saved with cut.
LB
	Jerome Baker
	Raekwon McMillan	$1.3 M	Only about $500 k savings possible with cut.
	Kiko Alonso	$8.3 M	Savings of $4.7 M possible, or $6.5 M if designated post-June-1.
	Mike Hull	0	Restricted Free Agent. Depending on tender by the Dolphins, he would cost about $2 to $4 million to keep.
	Chase Allen	$0.6 M	Can be cut without cap cost.
	Stephone Anthony	0	Free Agent.
DB
	Bobby McCain	$6.3 M	Would cost an additional $2.2 M to cut.
	Xavien Howard	$1.9 M	Savings of $1.3 M possible with cut.
	Minkah Fitzpatrick	$3.7 M	Would cost a staggering $13.5 M to cut.
	TJ McDonald	$6.0 M	No real savings possible with cut, although $1.4 M if post-June-1.
	Reshad Jones	$17.2 M	Almost uncutable. Would cost an extra $6 million. Only $2 M saved if post-June-1.
	Walt Aikens	$1.4 M	Can be cut without cap hit.
	Torry McTyer	$0.6 M	Can be cut without cap hit.
	Cordrea Tankersley	$0.8 M	Savings of $0.5 M possible with cut.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Thank you for the detailed breakdown.

Branch and Parker are goners for sure. Sitton is worth keeping around if he is healthy, our Line is in shambles and will be even worse if James leaves. Other than this, I don't see many obvious moves. We can cut people for sure, but not a lot of no-brainers for various reasons.

That frigging Suh contract. He played well but it was such a financial disaster we are still paying for it.

[Tenshot13]

To reiterate Tannehill's contract and how it affects the cap:

▪ If the Dolphins cut him after this season without a post June 1 designation, the Dolphins would have $13.4 million in dead money on its 2019 cap as a result of Tannehill’s contract but would have a cap savings of $13.2 million.

▪ But if Dolphins release Tannehill with a post June 1 designation, the Dolphins would have $7.9 million in dead money on its 2019 cap as a result of Tannehill’s contract but would have a cap savings of $18.75 million.

But the flip side of that scenario would be that Miami’s cap would carry another $5.6 million of Tannehill’s dead money in 2020.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article219883525.html

[EDGECRUSHER]

I just don't see us getting anyone better than Tanny for 2019 unless we want to tank and start Fales the entire season. Good QBs rarely make it to free agency.

[CF DolFan]

I just don't see us getting anyone better than Tanny for 2019 unless we want to tank and start Fales the entire season. Good QBs rarely make it to free agency.

i think Ryan is gone ... and I lthink we should keep him. Unfortunately we need to move on. Look for us to trade him though as we are getting out of dead money contracts

[Tenshot13]

^
Available QBs better than Tannehill:

Eli Manning
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Trade for Derek Carr

You could even argue that Tannehill and Bortles had similar stats this past year.  Losing Tannehill isn't a big a blow if there isn't complete garbage behind him like Brock.

Best bet would be to sign Ryan Fitzpatrick and draft someone like Daniel Jones if we wanted to draft a QB this year.  That way, we could win now possibly, but have someone waiting that's the future.  Even if we don't draft a QB until next year, they should still pick up Fitzpatrick.  His production > the money he's asked for

[Pappy13]

Cut:
Tannehill - Take the savings. A new coach is gonna want a new QB. Probably draft one and sign someone else on the cheap and hope he can last a year behind the offensive line to give the rookie a year to grow into the position or wait to draft another in 2020 who's ready to start right away.

Osweiller - Not worth keeping unless you can't find a FA to start next year, even if you can't I might rather give Fales a shot at starting and see what you have with him, Osweiller has had enough chances.

Gore - He did a remarkable job this year but I'd rather see Drake and Ballage run the ball next year and see what we have.

Parker - Not worth keeping.

Swanson - Not worth keeping.

Young - Not worth keeping.

Sterup - Not worth keeping.

Wake - Not worth keeping. Probably need to draft at least 1 DE, maybe 2.

Quinn - Take the savings.

Alonso - Take the savings.

[Fau Teixeira]

no dead money .. that should be the motto going forward .. 0 .. if cutting a guy will save you 2 mil now but you'll owe 3 in dead money .. don't do it .. it'll suck next year .. but we aren't winning shit next year anyways .. so take the pain now.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

^
Available QBs better than Tannehill:

Eli Manning

Eli is not a FA.  He might get cut, but that is TBD.

[Tenshot13]

^He will get cut post June 1st, same situation as Tannehill

[pondwater]

^He will get cut post June 1st, same situation as Tannehill

Good, Tannehill to NY and Eli to Miami for two year contracts. Then send them both to the glue factory....

[fyo]

New GM Chris Grier was very vocal about getting someone in to at least compete with Tannehill and when asked about the QB spot recently, his answer was "Well, Tannehill is on the roster right now."

The roster looks a lot worse than I thought, I have to admit. With that, I can completely see the argument for cutting Tannehill. I'm not really a fan of it, but the numbers make it hard to see him staying.

Would Tannehill even want to stay? At this point, if he wants a shot somewhere else, it pretty much has to be now. I certainly don't think Tannehill has much of a reason to take a pay cut (we'd stil be on the hook for the $13 million in remaining prorated bonus money, but his $19 million salary each of the next two years could be adjusted).

The thing is, if you are really going full rebuild, which is a pretty rare thing in the NFL, you pretty much have to tank next year and draft your quarterback of the future in 2020. The first move would then be to trade anyone with value not on their rookie contract or not locked up long term for cheap (getting you beyond the hump). That means keep a guy like Bobby McCain, because he's locked up till 2022, but try and trade productive and reasonably priced guys like Danny Amendola and Albert Wilson.

It also means Josh Sitton represents pretty much zero value, since he's old and only under contract this coming season. In the full rebuild model, he would probably need to be cut.

End of contract guys like Andre Branch and Robert Quinn would need to go.

It really would be a massive house-cleaning. Ideally, management would underplay it until they can get some trades done (i.e. until 4:01 pm EST on March 13).

Note that I don't like the complete rebuild model. I don't think it's necessary in today's NFL. It will suck short term and if management doesn't draft very, very well, absolutely nothing is gained by it.

[Downunder Dolphan]

Crikey, that roster makes for some uncomfortable reading given our predicament...

After an ordinary year punctuated by a walk out during a game, I would have thought that Reshad Jones would have been at the top of any potential trade/cut list, but that cap figure is a massive impediment. I have no doubt a hell of a lot of other teams would love to have him, but will they pick up the tab? If we do trade him, we won't get much apart from cap relief...

I can't see Tannehill being on the list post 1 June, and if he had any sense he would bolt to somewhere else with some resemblance of offensive line protection. Washington?

Stills and Parker are others on the list who immediately stand out as a potential post 1 June cut, but that depends a bit on who our Quarterback is going to be next year. If by some miracle we attract an elite QB he will want some decent targets to throw to, but if it's some cheap B-grade expendable and we plan on really bottoming out then it doesn't matter, adios guys...

[Alwaysdullfan]

I just don't see us getting anyone better than Tanny for 2019 unless we want to tank and start Fales the entire season. Good QBs rarely make it to free agency.

...Bridgewater Chase Daniel, Sam Bradford, maybe Tyrod Taylor or Flaccco. I think we got enough options, esp since theres not too much pressure considering next year will be loaded with QBs