Fins 2020 vs Bears and Pats 2025 Offseason

[BahamaFinFan78]

I was thinking about these teams and realized that the Bears and Pats had similar opportunities in the offseason: a lot of cap space and a full compliment of draft picks. Obviously, both had their QB already and the Fins had to draft theirs. The Fins had a coach picked and they had to get theirs. But some other similar stuff. I had Chat GPT run an analysis and it shows me just how much we squandered

1. 2020 Miami Dolphins — Baseline Rebuild Offseason​

Cap Space (2020)​

• $93–95 million in available cap space
• #1 in the NFL
• Almost 50% of the salary cap available

Draft Capital (2020)​

• 3 first-round picks
• 2 second-round picks
• 14 total picks

This is the modern NFL’s gold-standard rebuild resource haul.

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2. 2025 Chicago Bears — This Past Offseason​

Cap Space (Entering 2025 Offseason)​

• ~$80 million in early cap space
• After early signings, down to ~$16 million remaining

(This reflects the real reported Bears cap situation across the 2025 cycle.)

Draft Capital (2025 Draft)​

• 1 first-round pick (No. 10 overall)
• 7 total picks

That’s:

• 1 first
• 1 second
• Normal allotment otherwise
• No extra premium picks

Solid resources, but nowhere near Miami’s 2020 magnitude.

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3. 2025 New England Patriots — This Past Offseason​

Cap Space (Entering 2025 Offseason)​

• ~$80.9 million, most in the NFL at the start
• After early signings, roughly $51.8 million remaining

Patriots clearly had the most usable space of any team in 2025.

Draft Capital (2025 Draft)​

• 1 first-round pick (No. 4 overall)
• 9 total picks

That’s:

• 1 first
• 1 second
• 7 additional picks (higher-than-average draft volume)

More draft volume than Chicago, but still nowhere close to Miami’s 2020 premium pick haul.

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4. Direct Side-by-Side Comparison​

Team / Offseason	Cap Space Entering Offseason	Total Draft Picks	Premium Picks (1sts + 2nds)
2020 Dolphins	$93–95M	14 picks	5 premium picks (3×1st, 2×2nd)
2025 Bears	~$80M (→ ~$16M after signings)	7 picks	2 premium picks (1×1st, 1×2nd)
2025 Patriots	~$80.9M (→ ~$51.8M after signings)	9 picks	2 premium picks (1×1st, 1×2nd)

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5. Bottom-Line Assessment​

Closest to the 2020 Dolphins? — Patriots​

• The Patriots had Dolphins-level cap space, but not Dolphins-level draft capital.

Bears? — Not close​

• Bears had some space
• A single high first-rounder
• Normal number of picks
• Nowhere near Miami’s massive ammo

2020 Dolphins remain unmatched​

• No team in the 2025 offseason approached 5 premium picks + $95M cap space.

 

[ThePeopleShow13]

The 2020 and 2021 drafts were historically hard to predict. In 2020 COVID shut down the combine, in person interviews and pro days. In 2021 many top prospects did not play and the season was cut short. We drafted poorly, but if you look closely many teams did just as bad or worse. We as fans only look at the “what ifs”.

The Bears and Pats had their QB and got good coaches. We tried to ride it out with Grier/Flores and it did not work. Grier/McDaniel continued to dig the team into a hole with the big contracts and trading picks.