What went wrong on Mike Tannenbaum’s watch? Look at the Miami Dolphins’ salary cap
In December of 2015, Mike Tannenbaum decided he and Dennis Hickey couldn’t both work atop the Dolphins organization so he unceremoniously dismissed the general manager the Saturday before the season-finale.
And now it’s Tannenbaum’s turn.
He will be told his time with the Miami Dolphins is over before the end of next week and that will bring to a close his four seasons with the team.
And if you’re asking why exactly, no one that’s talking is absolutely certain about owner Stephen Ross’s reasoning for the move. If you’re thinking it’s the team’s inability to make the playoffs the past two seasons, that could be part, but not all of it.
The problem for Tannenbaum, who was brought in as something of a contract negotiator extraordinaire, is that the Dolphins had to tighten their belts due to salary-cap issues last offseason. And things don’t look promising for next offseason.
Tannenbaum negotiated contracts as the general manager of the New York Jets previously and was a successful agent when the Dolphins hired him first as a consultant in 2014 before promoting him to executive vice president of football operations in 2015.
Tannenbaum’s bio in the Dolphins media guide, which he approved, lists several of the deals he negotiated on Miami’s behalf — such as the Ndamukong Suh deal in 2015.
The bio also says Tannenbaum’s function is to help “implement the philosophy of building a championship caliber football team.”
And that’s were stuff went askew, folks.
Because whatever philosophy has been implemented has not worked. And a look down the road at 2019 suggests the Dolphins are in for some problems competing in free agency because of their cap situation.
And who is mostly in charge of overseeing the Dolphins salary cap for years into the future? Mike Tannenbaum.
A quick glance at the Dolphins’ salary-cap space for next season suggests the team is not in trouble at all. The Dolphins are expected to have roughly $19 million in space against the projected $190 million salary cap. And they can create about $41 million more in cap space by cutting four key players.
That would give the Dolphins about $60 million in cap space which should be more than enough money to get things done in any free agency environment.
The problem is the 2019 offseason is going to be a unique free agency environment in which the Dolphins will be lagging badly behind division and conference rivals in their ability to pay players.
Those rivals will be able to pay free agents more than the Dolphins because they’ll have tons more salary-cap room than the Dolphins. And unlike the Dolphins, they’ll have that abundant room without having to gut their roster to create the cap space.
Consider the New York Jets will have about $106 million in cap space, the second most in the NFL.
The Buffalo Bills will have roughly $88 million in cap space, the third most in the NFL.
Even the New England Patriots, dominant in the AFC East this century, will start with about $25 million in salary cap space — more than the Dolphins will have before the South Florida slashing begins.
And, yes, the Dolphins can get somewhat close to the Jets and Bills with their $60 million. But that number is a virtual lie.
It’s Fake Cap Space.
Because to reach those cap room heights the Dolphins would have to cut or trade their starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill, cut their sack leader Robert Quinn, not have defensive stalwart Cameron Wake on the books at all, not have starting right tackle Ja’Wuan James, cut defensive end Andre Branch and rescind the fifth-year option for receiver DeVante Parker.
The Parker move won’t hurt. He is potential not backed up by production.
But when a team moves on from its starting quarterback, its top three defensive ends, has no right tackle, and still cannot come within shouting distance of its rivals’ cap space, that’s a significant problem.
Because the 2019 Dolphins will absolutely need a starting quarterback.
And they’ll need defensive ends.
And a right tackle.
That’s certain. It’s also a certainty the replacements at those positions won’t be playing for free. They will cost and if they come in free agency, the cost will be prohibitive because cap space around the NFL will be plentiful and teams forced to spend will be paying big money.
The Jets, meanwhile, won’t be shopping for a quarterback.
Neither will the Bills.
Neither will the Patriots if Tom Brady’s plan to return manifests.
So, yes, the Dolphins can move chips and create the illusion of having a lot of cap space. But it’s not as much as their division rivals and it only comes by creating holes on a roster that already has plenty of holes to begin with.
Without cutting the multiple players just discussed the Dolphins would begin the offseason 15th among the 16 AFC teams in cap space and 26th overall.
Only the Jacksonville Jaguars, scheduled to be over the cap and also about to cut players to manage their cap finances, have less space than Miami within the conference.
Dolphins fans who have been demanding a complete reset of the organization — commonly known as blowing it all up — probably aren’t going to get everything they want.
But they’re going to get a good chunk of what they want because of this salary cap issue. Tannenbaum will be moving on. And the team will be fielding a very different roster in 2019.
Obviously, not all of this is Tannenbaum’s fault. Coach Adam Gase and general manager Chris Grier have been fully on board with Tannehill and others right along with Tannenbaum.
And Tannenbaum did have some good moments, such as replacing Jarvis Landry with Danny Amendola and Albert Wilson for less money.
But the cap is Tannenbaum’s principal assignment. And the team’s ‘19 cap situation will require a virtual rebuild at the top to be competitive.
The quarterback move alone would be a soap opera. Tannehill, you see, would save the Dolphins $13 million if he’s cut or traded before June 1. He would save the Dolphins $18 million if he’s a post-June 1 cut or trade.
But along with that savings would come $13 million in dead money (a player taking up cap space without being on the team) if the transaction is before June 1. That’s more dead money than the Bills, Jets and Patriots are scheduled to have.
Combined.
If the Dolphins make the move with a post-June 1 designation, Tannehill will be on the Miami books for nearly $8 million in dead money next year and another $5.5 million in 2020.
And, again, the $8 million next year would be more dead money than Miami’s three division foes will be carrying — combined.
And did I tell you the Dolphins next year will still be carrying the remnants of the failed Suh signing in the form of another $13 million in dead money?
Why? Because the Dolphins signed two players — Suh and Tannehill — to big contracts in 2015 and those players didn’t play up to those contracts.
And the Dolphins overpaid for Suh and then paid him roster bonuses baked into his contract to drive his salary cap numbers lower in 2016 and 2017. The problem is those roster bonuses also drove the cap numbers higher on the back end of the contract — in 2018 and ‘19.
Two years after Suh’s departure, the Dolphins will still be dealing with that transaction’s painful back end.
The Dolphins did a similar exercise with Tannehill last offseason — thus raising his cap number for 2019 and 2020 by about $5.5 million each year.
Think about that: The Dolphins raised the future cap numbers for its two highest paid players in consecutive years and if Tannehill is not with the team next year (which is the expectation) they will have gotten rid of both those players the following offseason.
That’s a salary cap self-inflicted wound.
This is not the vision that helps build “a championship caliber football team.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2018 at 2:28 AM.
