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At the start of free agency back in March, the Miami Dolphins released linebackers Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett. However, using a new designation within the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the team declared both of those releases as "June 1st Cuts," meaning the team would continue to carry their full salary on the books, and against the salary cap, until June 2.
That meant that Miami had Dansby's $8.375 million and Burnett's $5.6 million counting against the salary cap, despite both players having already signed with new teams. Now that we have passed June 2, the Dolphins essentially gained over $10 million in salary cap space.
That additional space gives Miami the seventh most amount of cap room in the league. And, that's despite the team's free agent spending spree this offseason.
Here's a breakdown of the team's salary cap picture. All salary cap numbers are via Spotract.com and OvertheCap.com.
| 2013 NFL Salary Cap | $123,000,000 |
| Miami 2012 Salary Cap Rollover | $5,380,246 |
| Miami 2013 Salary Cap | $128,380,246 |
In the offseason and preseason, the NFL only counts the top 51 contracts on each team's roster, despite the team being allowed to carry up to 90 players. Currently, Miami has a full 90, although 16 of them still have undisclosed contract terms, and three are unsigned draft picks (marked with an asterisk).
| Cap Number | ||
| 1 | Randy Starks | $8,450,000 |
| 2 | Paul Soliai | $7,375,000 |
| 3 | Richard Marshall | $5,766,666 |
| 4 | Brent Grimes | $5,500,000 |
| 5 | Richie Incognito | $5,383,334 |
| 6 | Cameron Wake | $5,015,000 |
| 7 | Dimitri Patterson | $4,600,000 |
| 8 | Dustin Keller | $4,250,000 |
| 9 | Tyson Clabo | $3,500,000 |
| 10 | Mike Wallace | $3,200,000 |
| 11 | Dan Carpenter | $3,012,500 |
| 12 | Ryan Tannehill | $2,879,205 |
| 13 | Chris Clemons | $2,750,000 |
| 14 | Mike Pouncey | $2,525,371 |
| 15 | Matt Moore | $2,500,000 |
| 16 | Dannell Ellerbe | $2,425,000 |
| 17 | Philip Wheeler | $2,400,000 |
| 18 | Brian Hartline | $2,115,000 |
| 19 | Jared Odrick | $1,939,868 |
| 20 | Brandon Gibson | $1,785,000 |
| 21 | Vaughn Martin | $1,675,000 |
| 22 | Brandon Fields | $1,645,000 |
| 23 | Lance Louis | $1,603,750 |
| 24 | John Jerry | $1,537,625 |
| 25 | Reshad Jones | $1,363,075 |
| 26 | Austin Spitler | $1,323,000 |
| 27 | Nate Garner | $1,266,666 |
| 28 | Koa Misi | $1,186,905 |
| 29 | Jonathan Martin | $1,087,333 |
| 30 | John Denney | $1,013,750 |
| 31 | Jason Trusnik | $915,000 |
| 32 | Daniel Thomas | $882,652 |
| 33 | Nolan Carroll | $677,939 |
| 34 | Olivier Vernon | $669,520 |
| 35 | Jamar Taylor | $659,300 |
| 36 | Michael Egnew | $652,239 |
| 37 | RJ Stanford | $630,000 |
| 38 | Lamar Miller | $601,500 |
| 39 | Charles Clay | $583,000 |
| 40 | Jimmy Wilson | $566,475 |
| 41 | Will Yeatman | $555,000 |
| 42 | Jelani Jenkins | $523,172 |
| 43 | Dion Sims | $521,888 |
| 44 | Kheeston Randall | $495,612 |
| 45 | Lee Robinson | $495,000 |
| 46 | Rishard Matthews | $493,403 |
| 47 | Derrick Shelby | $483,333 |
| 48 | Marcus Thigpen | $482,500 |
| 49 | Armon Binns | $480,000 |
| 50 | Marvin McNutt | $480,000 |
| 51 | Jonathan Freeny | $480,000 |
| 52 | Pat Devlin | $480,000 |
| 53 | DeAndre Presley | $480,000 |
| 54 | Kyle Miller | $480,000 |
| 55 | Josh Kaddu | $480,000 |
| 56 | Josh Samuda | $480,000 |
| 57 | Jorvorskie Lane | $480,000 |
| 58 | Mike Gillislee | $445,700 |
| 59 | Caleb Sturgis | $441,140 |
| 60 | Don Jones | $416,474 |
| 61 | Kelcie McCray | $408,333 |
| 62 | Jeff Fuller | $405,000 |
| 63 | Jonas Gray | $405,000 |
| 64 | Andrew McDonald | $405,000 |
| 65 | Julian Posey | $405,000 |
| 66 | Brian Thomas | $405,000 |
| 67 | Jeff Adams | $405,000 |
| 68 | Brian Tyms | $405,000 |
| 69 | Chandler Burden | $405,000 |
| 70 | Aaron Corp | $405,000 |
| 71 | Courtney Gardner | $405,000 |
| 72 | Chris Barker | |
| 73 | Sam Brenner | |
| 74 | Rupert Bryan | |
| 75 | Chad Bumphis | |
| 76 | Chris Burnette | |
| 77 | Michael Clay | |
| 78 | Jasper Collins | |
| 79 | A.J. Francis | |
| 80 | Alonzo Highsmith | |
| 81 | David Hinds | |
| 82 | Keelan Johnson | |
| 83 | Jordan Kovacs | |
| 84 | Ina Liaina | |
| 85 | Cameron Marshall | |
| 86 | Tristan Okpalaugo | |
| 87 | Emeka Onyenekwu | |
| 88 | Dion Jordan* | |
| 89 | Dallas Thomas* | |
| 90 | Will Davis* |
Now that we have the full 90 man roster, we can start to do the math to figure out exactly how much space Miami has remaining this year. First, we start with the Top 51 salaries:
| 2013 Dolphins Salary Cap | $128,380,246 |
| 2013 Dolphins Top 51 Salaries | $103,401,581 |
| Interim Space Remaining | $24,978,665 |
Next, we have to calculate the dead money sitting on the Dolphins' books. Dead money is any bonus or guaranteed money that has not been accounted for against a salary cap number in previous years if a player is released or traded. When a player signs his contract, his signing bonus is split equally over the life of the contract for salary cap purposes, but is accelerated into the current league year when a player is released (or split over two seasons if the release takes place after June 1). Then, any guaranteed money that is given to the player, but has not been paid when he is released or traded will also be counted against the cap
For the Dolphins in 2013, the dead money currently looks like:
| Player | Dead Money |
| Karlos Dansby | $2,325,000 |
| Jake Long | $1,600,000 |
| Kevin Burnett | $1,250,000 |
| Vontae Davis | $1,111,250 |
| Davone Bess | $750,000 |
| Clyde Gates | $226,576 |
| Josh Kaddu | $140,055 |
| BJ Cunningham | $79,650 |
| Kevyn Scott | $6,000 |
| Chas Alecxih | $5,000 |
| Jeff Fuller | $5,000 |
| Jarrell Root | $3,334 |
| Jacquies Smith | $3,334 |
| Derek Moye | $3,334 |
| Dustin Waldron | $3,334 |
| Terrell Sinkfield | $2,500 |
| Taylor Stockemer | $2,000 |
| Shelly Lyons | $2,000 |
| Les Brown | $1,667 |
| Clay Belton | $1,000 |
| Robert McCabe | $1,000 |
| Andrew McDonald | $334 |
Now, we can add that into our salary cap calculations:
| 2013 Dolphins Salary Cap | $128,380,246 |
| 2013 Dolphins Top 51 Salaries | $103,401,581 |
| 2013 Dolphins Dead Money | $7,522,368 |
| 2013 Salary Cap Space Remaining | $17,456,297 |
With that $17.5 million, Miami still has to sign their three remaining rookies. The Dolphins were assigned the largest rookie salary pool this year, an NFL assigned maximum and minimum dollar amount that the team uses to sign their draft picks. That amount is the total the team can give to players in the first year of their contract. Miami was given a pool of between $5,200,912 and $7,839,986 this year.
So far, the Dolphins have spent $3,007,674 on their first year rookie signings. That means they have between $2,193,238 and $4,832,312 left to sign Dion Jordan, Dallas Thomas, and Will Davis.
Assuming they use the entire amount, Miami currently has $12,623,985 remaining in salary cap space for this year. That money will be used to sign players during training camp and the season if injuries require it. It can also be used to re-sign players who are scheduled to become free agents after this season. Finally, any dollar amount not used this year will be rolled over into next year's salary cap, giving the Dolphins more space in 2014.