Miami Dolphins – Miami’s offseason cutset set a league record with $179 million in dead cap, boosted by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s $99.2 million hit. A new report suggests the Dolphins’ approach mirrors what the Denver Broncos did when they ate $85 million in dead cap to rel
The Dolphins started their offseason with a message written in numbers: this wasn’t going to be a gentle rebuild.
Miami took a hacksaw to its roster and set a new league record for dead cap charges at $179 million. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s release helped drive the total—his cut contributed $99.2 million to the figure.
On its face, it’s the kind of move that turns heads across the league. In a recent ESPN article. Jeff Legwold informally polled 11 coaches and personnel executives around the NFL on whether they thought Miami’s plan was influenced by the extreme dead-cap gamble the Denver Broncos were willing to incur when they released former starting quarterback Russell Wilson two offseasons earlier. a move that carried $85 million in dead cap.
A number of respondents believed Miami’s offseason strategy was a progression from what the Broncos did two years ago, Legwold wrote.
That connection isn’t just about the willingness to pay for mistakes in the past. It’s about what Denver managed to do after it made the leap.
In the two seasons following Wilson’s release. the Broncos went 24-10 in regular season games. made the playoffs twice. and advanced to the AFC Championship Game this past January. There was even a near-miss that heightened the stakes: if not for an ankle injury to quarterback Bo Nix. Denver could have represented the conference in this year’s Super Bowl.
Miami’s leadership isn’t chasing those results on a perfect timeline, but it’s chasing the same kind of momentum. The Dolphins and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan would be thrilled to replicate Denver’s outcome—assuming the path takes a bit longer.
This offseason, Miami signed Malik Willis as its new signal-caller. The expectation is that his steady leadership and athletic ability can help speed up the rebuilding process, even as the team bears the financial cost of major roster changes.
For now, the Dolphins aren’t pinned down by cap arithmetic the way they were earlier in the rebuild. While Miami set the record for dead cap. it’s gained more than $21 million in post-June 1st savings earlier this month. Looking ahead, Spotrac currently projects Miami to have nearly $114 million to spend in 2027 if the team chooses to do so.
So the pressure shifts forward. The next offseason is when Miami should be in a position to spend. And if the pieces line up—plus a little luck, as the Dolphins aim to do more than just survive financially—there’s a plausible path to reaching a Denver-like payoff sooner than some may expect.
Miami Dolphins Denver Broncos dead cap Tua Tagovailoa Russell Wilson Bo Nix Malik Willis Jon-Eric Sullivan NFL offseason