The NFL announced an unprecedented increase in the salary cap for 2024. The Miami Dolphins suddenly have less of a problem than projected.
The Miami Dolphins received some great news on Friday as the NFL announced the 2024 salary cap. The annual spending limit for the league was increased by $30 million for 2024 and will be $255.4 million – much higher than the previous estimates of around $240 million. The league explained the large increase, stating, “The unprecedented $30 million increase per club in this year’s Salary Cap is the result of the full repayment of all amounts advanced by the clubs and deferred by the players during the Covid pandemic as well as an extraordinary increase in media revenue for the 2024 season.”
The Dolphins were projected to be somewhere around $55-60 million over the cap prior to Friday’s announcement. Instead, the team is about $38.5 million in the red. Miami will need to get down to at least even with the cap number by 4 p.m. ET on March 13 when the new league year begins.
Salary cap savings could include moves like releasing linebacker Emannuel Ogbah, who would save the team $13.7 million with his release. Linebacker Jerome Baker could be released if a restructured contract is not completed, with the released providing an additional $9.8 million in cap savings. Linebacker David Long, Jr., and quarterback Mike White could also be cap-savings moves, with Long providing $4.5 million in space and White another $3.5 million.
Those four moves alone would save Miami $31.5 million. The Dolphins would have to find replacements for each of the released players, but these moves could quickly bring their salary cap problem under control.
The Dolphins also have to find space for re-signing players that are scheduled to hit free agency. Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins could be a franchise tag target for the team, a move that would likely add around $22 million against the cap – giving the team more work to do to create the needed space. A long-term contract could lower that cap number for Wilkins, but whatever Miami does, they have to add more cap savings before they can commit to the spending needed to keep Wilkins.
Miami could look to sign quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a long-term contract this offseason, replacing his $23.2 million, fully guaranteed fifth-year option with a team-friendly salary cap number for this year. The larger cap space, however, could lead to Tagovailoa looking for a larger overall deal, with more money suddenly available to the team. That deal could have a low initial salary-cap number, but lead to a higher cap number for the Dolphins in future seasons. A new contract with Tagovailoa might be a move the team makes to create space this year, worrying about future years somewhere down the road.
Whatever the Dolphins have to do to get under the cap for the 2024 season, the job just got a lot easier with today’s announcement of a huge jump from last year’s cap number.
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