Dolphins start the rebuild

[CF DolFan]

Today they cut, Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, James Daniels, and Nick Westbrook. They released Zach Wilson a few days ago.

I'm not sure about Wilson but with the other cuts they have created about 56 mill to the Cap Space and just under 67 million in salary.

[masterfins]

These seem to be all player evaluations, what they think they can get out of them in 2026.  Tyreek is expensive and has too many off field issues.  A great player in the games where he wants to go out and play, but other times doesn't seem to give the effort.  Chubb came around at the end of last year and could possibly be great this season if he stays healthy.

[Phishfan]

I'm glad Hill is gone. He won't be the same player again.

[Dave Gray]

What does any of this mean for Tua and that price-tag?

[masterfins]

^^^I don't think Tua is going anywhere, we're stuck with him just like Cleveland's been stuck with Watson.  At least Miami will have a decent backup.  With a tough schedule ahead I hope Miami just rides out the year with Ewers starting, maybe he'll be as good as they thought he was going to be a couple years ago when he passed on the draft and played another year of college ball.

[Pappy13]

I believe the chances that Tua is on the roster for 2026 are very small. How they manage to remove him from the roster is up for debate, but I don't think there's really any discussion going on about how to keep him on the roster. Now of course they aren't going to come out and say that, not even to Tua because Tua is on the roster...until he isn't. All the talk of it being impossible to NOT have Tua on the roster is just plain nonsense. Of course it's possible, actually it's probable the only real question is what is the best way to do it and that can't be answered until a later date and even discussing it now could be detrimental to that cause. So once they decide how to get him off the roster, then they'll discuss it but you'll get nothing out of the Dolphins about it before that time.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I suspect they want to cut/restructure to generate the cap space first.

[Pappy13]

I suspect they want to cut/restructure to generate the cap space first.

They do, but they basically already have the cap space they need to play the 2026 season with the cuts they made above. Interestingly they have not yet announced whether Chubb will be a pre or post June 1st cut which they are probably waiting till they decide what to do with Tua to decide that. They would prefer to make him a pre June 1st cut, but they may not have any choice but to make him a post June 1st cut to split some of his cap hit until 2027.

With McDaniel and Hill both gone there's very little reason to bring back Tua. He's all but gone already, it's just a matter of how they do it. I still think there's a better than 50/50 chance that he's traded. Obviously Miami is going to have to pay some of his salary and they may even have to throw in a player or draft pick to complete the process. They won't want to give up a draft pick, but a player is a real possibility. There's some teams that make a lot of sense like Atlanta and Indy, both of whom don't have healthy QB's right now. Tua could bridge the gap until their QB get's back so he's not a long term solution but makes a lot of sense as a fill in QB to keep your 2026 season afloat till your QB is healthy.

[Downunder Dolphan]

With McDaniel and Hill both gone there's very little reason to bring back Tua.

There's about $45M of cap space why (over one or two years, take your pick)

With the cuts already made, there has to be zero chance that Tua is a pre-June 1st cut. It would literally be seppuku to any chance of a barely decent 2026 season, as there would be no salary space to deal with. If you thought the last two years were tough dealing with the roster populated by bums off the street and cheap mercenaries trying to prolong what was left of an NFL career... that would be mere foreplay to what's ahead. We are at nearly $74 million in dead cap money in 2026 already BEFORE we even make a decision on TUA! Seriously, look it up! Add $67.4M (post June-1st) or the full $99.2M before June, and this team's 2026 season is seriously fucked.

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/miami-dolphins

[Downunder Dolphan]

We are at nearly $74 million in dead cap money in 2026 already BEFORE we even make a decision on TUA! Seriously, look it up! Add $67.4M (post June-1st) or the full $99.2M before June, and this team's 2026 season is seriously fucked.

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/miami-dolphins

Ps. As of right now, our salary cap space after those hard cuts is... under $3.7M.

(That previous pre-Tua 2026 dead-cap number didn't even include Chubb. Throw his name in the pile and it's potentially up to $98M!)

If we cut Tua, even post June 1st, we're going to have to find cap space (cut players) to the tune of at least an additional $11M just to get to the starting line to keep whoever is left, let alone sign anyone else. Plus you have to add another player to the list.

Think about it. Cutting Tua costs us money compared to having him on the bench or occasionally in the building. That's a big reason to bring back Tua, regardless of if he even sees grass on the field.  

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

There's about $45M of cap space why (over one or two years, take your pick)

With the cuts already made, there has to be zero chance that Tua is a pre-June 1st cut. It would literally be seppuku to any chance of a barely decent 2026 season, as there would be no salary space to deal with. If you thought the last two years were tough dealing with the roster populated by bums off the street and cheap mercenaries trying to prolong what was left of an NFL career... that would be mere foreplay to what's ahead. We are at nearly $74 million in dead cap money in 2026 already BEFORE we even make a decision on TUA! Seriously, look it up! Add $67.4M (post June-1st) or the full $99.2M before June, and this team's 2026 season is seriously fucked.

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/miami-dolphins

Tua's contract is going to cripple any chance of the Dolphin's chances in 2026, the question is do you want the contract to also be harmful to 2027?

What do you accomplish by by moving some of the dead money into 2027 instead of 2026? Do that Dolphins have ability to  to construct a team for 2026 capable of making the playoffs?  No.  If they enter 2027 with no dead money and a roster of young players on rookie contracts in which a few of are players that in hindsight should have been day two draftees not UDFA then they have a chance at building a competitive team.   

And before anyone says "of course Hoodie wants the Dolphins to suck"  If the NEP don't win the division this year it will be because of the Bills.  As a Patriots fan I actually would like you to spend 2027 and 2028 cap space on FA that allow you to win just enough games not to be drafting top 10 and perpetually stay in a position where you have enough resources to finish ahead of the Jets but never enough resources to make the playoffs. 

[Pappy13]

There's about $45M of cap space why (over one or two years, take your pick)

With the cuts already made, there has to be zero chance that Tua is a pre-June 1st cut. It would literally be seppuku to any chance of a barely decent 2026 season, as there would be no salary space to deal with. If you thought the last two years were tough dealing with the roster populated by bums off the street and cheap mercenaries trying to prolong what was left of an NFL career... that would be mere foreplay to what's ahead. We are at nearly $74 million in dead cap money in 2026 already BEFORE we even make a decision on TUA! Seriously, look it up! Add $67.4M (post June-1st) or the full $99.2M before June, and this team's 2026 season is seriously fucked.

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/miami-dolphins

So? How does any of that make the Dolphins better by having him on the team? It doesn't. Which means it absolutely makes more sense to trade him or just outright release him than have him on the team. We have to pay Tua that $99.2M regardless of if he's on the team or not unless we can get someone to take him for part of his salary. So the only question is do you want him on the team or not and the consensus seems to be or not.

[Pappy13]

Ps. As of right now, our salary cap space after those hard cuts is... under $3.5M.

That's not quite the full picture. You'll notice that Chubb is still listed on the page with the Dolphins having already said they are cutting him. That's because they haven't yet announced whether that will be a pre or post June 1st cut which has implications on the salary cap which one they choose. If it's pre June 1st they will save around $7M on the 2026 cap putting them around $10.5M under the cap. If it's a post June 1st cut they will save around $20M on the 2026 cap making them around $23.5M under the cap for 2026. The reason they haven't decided yet is because of Tua. While on the team he costs them $56M in cap space for 2026. If they cut him pre June 1st that would cost us $99M a difference of $43M which would put us over the cap regardless of what they do with Chubb so that doesn't really work without a lot of other cap space savings somewhere else. If they cut Tua post June 1st he would cost $67M toward the cap in 2026 a difference of $11M over keeping him on the roster so if they do post June 1st cut for both Tua and Chubb they would be around $12M under the cap, which is enough to start the season without making any more moves and they are most certainly going to make some more moves like cutting Jason Sanders, perhaps something with Minkah etc.

They already have the cap space to cut Tua and Chubb and still field a team in 2026, but that would mean post June 1st cuts for both Tua and Chubb and they really don't want to do that. Ideally I think they would like to make Tua a post June 1st cut and Chubb a pre June 1st cut, but they aren't quite there yet. They would have to make a few more moves to make that happen. Getting someone to trade for Tua and pick up a part of his salary would be ideal as that would lower his cap hit and possibly allow the Dolphins to designate Chubb as a pre June 1st cut, but failing that they are going to have to make some more moves which remains to be seen what they do.

At least that's my understanding. If I'm wrong about something and I fully admit that I might be, let me know, but I'm basing a lot of this on what I've read from a lot of others that are infinitely better about these salary cap numbers then I am.

[Phishfan]

Eat it. Accept this coming season cannot be a success. Get ready rebuild and don't delay. I learned as a child it's best just to rip the bandaid.

[Downunder Dolphan]

Eat it. Accept this coming season cannot be a success. Get ready rebuild and don't delay. I learned as a child it's best just to rip the bandaid.

Not just this season. As I mentioned earlier, if you cut Tua, you are going to have to cut even more players off the roster just to make the cap limit (and even more to have any space to sign rookies and anyone else).

Be prepared to goodbye to Minkah, Jackson, Waddle, Brewer, Brooks, Ingold, Sieler, basically anyone who isn't on a rookie or minimum wage contract the next two seasons.

We are staring directly at a 0-17 prospect in 2026, and a bottom up rebuild from 2027 that is going to take years to be remotely competitive.