Dolphins will spend $9.8 million in cap space to sign 2026 draftees
The Miami Dolphins are gaining $20.2 million in cap space at 4 p.m. today because of the June 1 designation for Bradley Chubb’s release earlier this spring, but nearly half of that surplus is already accounted for.
Because the Dolphins have a massive 13 player draft class, and haven’t signed any of the draftees up to this point, Miami will need $9.8 million in effective cap space to facilitate those deals for the 2026 draftees.
While it will cost the Dolphins more than $110 million in contracts to sign the 13 drafted player to four-year deals, because of the NFL’s rule of 51, only the top 51 salaries count against the salary cap every season.
First-round picks Kadyn Proctor and Chris Johnson, and second-round pick Jacob Rodriguez eat up the majority of that substantial sum because of the fully guaranteed contracts they are expected to sign.
Proctor, an offensive lineman from the University of Alabama the Dolphins selected with the 12th pick, is slated to sign a four-year deal worth $21.6 million, which includes a fifth-year option the team can trigger after his third season.
Johnson, a cornerback from San Diego State the Dolphins selected with the 27th pick, will receive a four-year deal worth slightly more than $19 million. His deal also includes a fifth-year option, which is an extra year on contracts team can opt into that is only given to first-round picks.
The agent community’s push for second-round picks to receiver fully guaranteed contracts from NFL teams will benefit Rodriguez, the Texas Tech linebacker the Dolphins made the draft’s 43rd selection. Rodriguez is slated to sign a four-year deal worth slightly more than $11.6 million.
Miami’s third round picks — receivers Caleb Douglas ($7.1 million) and Chris Bell ($6.7 million), tight end Will Kacmarek ($6.85 million) — won’t receive fully guaranteed contracts, and neither will the rest of Miami’s 2026 draft class.
However, unlike Proctor, Johnson and Rodriguez, the players without fully guaranteed contracts will potentially benefit from playing time escalators, which raise salaries for inexpensive players after each season if they are regular contributors.
Expect a few of those draft class signings — if not all of them — to take place this week as the team holds its three-day mandatory minicamp from Tuesday to Thursday. The Dolphins typically sign the draftees before minicamp wraps, but that was the last regime. We’ll soon learn how new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley handle the team’s business.
After those three practices, the Dolphins have one more OTA week of practice before the players and coaches break for the summer, with the expectation that everyone’s back for training camp, which is expected to begin the final week of July.
