What to do with the extra cap space?

Jimmy Bourbon

9 years ago

Stephen Ross and the Dolphins have not been shy about opening up their wallet this off-season, and paying to bring in top talent. Phins fans always seem to complain when a team is spending a lot of money, and then worrying that the team will have salary cap problems in the future. However, Ross is the second richest owner in the NFL behind Seattle’s Paul Allen (net worth $17.5 billion), and he is also ranked as the 216^th richest man in the world, with a net worth of $6.5 billion, so please there is no reason to worry about if Ross can afford multimillion-dollar player contracts.

Some Phins fans may not like Ross, but there is no arguing with the fact that he has no qualms about spending his hard-earned money in the hopes of bringing a championship to Miami.

With all the money that Miami has laid out this off-season, they surprisingly have $10.3 million in cap space still available. That is a nice chunk of money that can be put to good use. It is not something where if you do not use the cap space this season then you get to use it for next year, it is either you use it or you lose it. Some owners would rather keep the savings, but those owners usually have bad teams. Just look at the top 5 teams that have the most cap space, and it is clear that one of the reasons they are some of the worst teams in the league is because they have owners that either can’t or won’t open their wallets. (1 Jaguars $36.5 million in cap space, 2 Titans $24.8m, 3 Browns $22m, 4 Raiders $21.2m, 5 Buccaneers $20.2m)

Clearly, my first suggestion would be to use a large part of our available cap space to sign former All-Pro Guard Evan Mathis. He played briefly for the Dolphins is 2008, and our Offensive Coordinator Bill Lazor was his former Offensive Coordinator in Philadelphia, so he does have some ties to Miami. Mathis was released from Philly because of contract issues, and was not happy with his current salary of $5.5 million, so most football gambling fans would say a team would have to be willing to pay at least $5.5 million for this season. Miami can afford him, and since this team is in a win-now mode then they should make one last splurge and sign Mathis. The pay per head bookie service sites like AcePerHead.com.

If Miami does not use the free cap space on Mathis then my next move would be to work out a long-term deal with Olivier Vernon. Vernon is a Miami native, who played at the University of Miami and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. Besides the fact that it is nice to keep homegrown talent at home, he is also young, productive, and plays a position that is a cornerstone to any Defense in the NFL. Talented pass rushers are not growing on trees, and they are not cheap, so it would be wise to re-sign the one we already have.

The third option would be to use the money on a long term contract for Lamar Miller, but running backs are a dime a dozen, and can be found easier than Defensive Ends. In addition, I would wait to see what Ajayi can do, before we think about re-signing Miller.

The fourth option would be to stay on the alert for other players at positions of need, such as Guard. And the fifth option would be to do nothing and not use the $10.3 million in available cap space. Regardless of what we do, I hope we use it in some way, because when we have an owner that is not afraid to spend his money and is allowed to spend more, then we should put our available resources to good use. What does the rest of the Miami Dolphins fans think we should do with our remaining cap space?

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