The Miami Dolphins have made a lot of roster moves already this offseason, but they've mostly been just cutting players to clear long-term cap space and reset as an organization.
But, while some of those moves will bring in cap savings, at the end of the day, the Dolphins will be eating a ton of dead money to shift gears as an organization.
After the release of Tua Tagovailoa, who comes with a $99.2 million dead money cap charge, where does the Dolphins' "dead money" stand for 2026? It's a lofty number, and while it might seem scary, it's manageable for Miami.
Dolphins 'dead money' explained amid $99.2 million Tagovailoa cut
While it's well-known the Dolphins are eating $99.2 million in dead money from cutting Tagovailoa, what does that actually mean, and what is "dead money" in the NFL?
According to ESPN's Dan Graziano, "A dead money charge is a charge on an NFL team's salary cap for a player who is no longer on the roster."
What that means in the case of Tagovailoa is that he had $99.2 million remaining on his contract that the Dolphins have to account for in signing bonuses.
His release makes all of that money hit at once, or in the case with Tagovailoa, over two years with a post June 1 designation.
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Following Tagovailoa's release, where do the Dolphins stand in their total dead money for 2026? While the final number for 2026 when it comes to Tagovailoa's release isn't known yet, it will be at least $50 million and, at most, $67.4 million.
Before the release of Tagovailoa, and even before Chubb's contract is factored in, according to overthecap.com, the Dolphins have $89,603,387 in dead money for the 2026 NFL season.
Tyreek Hill accounts for $28.2 million, Jalen Ramsey accounts for $20.8M, Minkah Fitzpatrick for $12.9M, Terron Armstead for $10.7M, James Daniels for $4.8M, Zach Wilson for $3.8M, Alec Ingold for $1.9M, and Jonnu Smith for $1.6M.
The others counting on the Dolphins' books as dead money include Nick Westbrook-Ikhine ($1.6M), Matt Judon ($1.3M), Jason Sanders ($663,000), Cam Smith ($527,897), and Mohamed Kamara ($160,436).
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The Dolphins will be well north of $100 million in dead money this upcoming season, with the massive dead money charge to come in around $130-$150 million, depending on how the Dolphins structure Tagovailoa's release.
These contracts will eventually come off the Dolphins' books and not count against their available cap space. But, for the 2026 season, the Dolphins will have more than half of their cap space tied up in dead money.
It's a short-term problem that will be solved in the future, but for now, the Dolphins will have to go bargain-bin hunting in free agency as Jon-Eric Sullivan reshuffles the roster by making cuts and trades, and eating tons of dead money in the process.
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