Cap hits: how much money do the Dolphins have left to spend?

So, the Dolphins have made a number of free agency moves and continue to remain in the market by pursuing former Jets TE Dustin Keller and former Chiefs RT Eric Winston. The Dolphins could also potentially use a CB. With all the moves Miami has made, how much cap space do they continue to have to sign additional players?

Earlier reports estimated that the Dolphins had as much as $46 mil in cap space. Lets estimate how much 2013 cap space remains:

• DT Randy Starks franchise tagged $8.45 mil ($37.55 space)
• WR Mike Wallace estimated $7 mil ($30.55 mil space)
• S Chris Clemons $2.75 mil (27.8)
• QB Matt Moore $2.5 mil ($25.3)
• LB Dannell Ellerbe $2.4 mil ($22.9)
• LB Philip Wheeler $2.4 mil (20.5)
• WR Brian Hartline: $2.115 mil ($18.385)
• LB Austin Spitler RFA tender $1.323 mil ($17.062 space)
• CB R.J. Stanford RFA tender $630k (16.432 space)
• QB Pat Devlin RFA tender $480k ($15.952 space)

Miami released LB Karlos Dansby and LB Kevin Burnett but designated them as “June 1st cuts”, meaning Miami won’t realize any cap savings until June 1. Read my article http://finnation.com/cap-implications-dansby-burnett-classified-june-1st-cuts/ for the particulars. Ben Volin has a greatarticle today breaking down the contracts of Ellerbe and Wheeler, but his estimate of $31 mil in cap space before Wallace’s contract inappropriately applies Dansby and Burnett’s cap hit immediately.

Bottom line: The Dolphins have approximately $16 mil in cap space to spend until June 1st, at which time the Dolphins will gain an additional $10.4 mil in space with Dansby and Burnett’s salaries coming off of the 2013 cap. The Dolphins will need a high of $6 mil to sign rookies, and with the 2014 cap already looking tight I wouldn’t expect Miami to utilize all of their cap space this offseason. We probably shouldn’t expect the Dolphins to add more than another $10 mil in free agent cap hits to the 2013 salary cap.

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Michael Miller

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