The 2021 NFL salary cap is set. Here’s how much space the Miami Dolphins have

And now, after much debate and speculation, we know:

The NFL salary cap will be $182.5 million in 2021, down $15.7 million — or 7.9 percent — from the year before.

The cap is based on revenues generated by the NFL and its 32 member clubs, and due to COVID-19, those revenues were down significantly in 2020.

The Dolphins alone lost tens of millions of dollars last year due to a number of pandemic-related factors, most specifically a stadium that was at just one-fifth capacity on game days.

So what does that mean for football side of the organization?

As of Wednesday morning, the NFLPA had not calculated the amount of cap space each team would have when the league year begins next week, but the Dolphins’ true cap will be $197.7 million, due to $15.2 million in unused funds from 2020 that rolled over to the new season.

Of that figure, $165.4 million has already been spoken for in active player contracts (including salary that will be paid to new tackle Isaiah Wilson, once Miami’s trade with the Titans is finalized next week), plus another $4.6 million is tied up in dead money by cutting Kyle Van Noy, a move made official Wednesday after the Dolphins were unable to trade him.

So the team’s total liabilities, at this moment, are $170 million. But until the season begins, only the top 51 contracts count against the cap. Which means the Dolphins have, give or take, $33 million in cap space.

That figure can, and probably will, go up even more in the coming days. The Dolphins will likely cut additional players, and if they need even more space to afford what appears to be a considerable free agent wish list, can engage in some creative accounting to back-load some of their existing contracts.

One easy trick is taking most of Byron Jones’ $14 million base salary and converting it into a signing bonus. That move alone would create $10 million in space. However, it would also likely commit the Dolphins to Jones through at least the 2022 season, and perhaps beyond.

A significant, unanswered question: Will the Dolphins use some of that space to give Xavien Howard his desired raise? The sense based on conversations around the league is such a bump is not imminent.

▪ The Dolphins were one of 15 teams that received none of the 37 compensatory picks awarded by the NFL in 2021 due to the team’s major spending in free agency last year.

This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 10:00 AM.

Adam H. Beasley

Miami Herald

305-376-2387

Adam Beasley has covered the Dolphins for the Miami Herald since 2012, and has worked for the newspaper since 2006. He is a graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communications and has written about sports professionally since 1996. Support my work with a digital subscription