My guess is that they're waiting to see if they can figure out a deal for Tua before they decide that.
Florio: belief in league circles is Dolphins will cut Tua and absorb entire $99m cap hit in 2026
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My guess is that they're waiting to see if they can figure out a deal for Tua before they decide that.
jimthefin
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Minkah is worth keeping but it makes sense to see what they can get for him.
He is still playing at a pretty high level and I doubt he wants to be part of a multi year rebuild.
Trade him to a contender for a decent draft pick, R3 maybe?
Assuming no restructure, to cut Tua, even if post june 1st, we still need about 67 million in cap space to take the dead money hit. Considering we're around breakeven no after cutting tyreek, NWI, etc....how are we going to clear another 67 million (plus the approximately 12-15 mill needed for practice squad and rookis)? Chubb, even if he's the other post june 1st, will only give us 20 million more in cap space so we still need to come up with another 59 million.
Holy hell....Tua might just have to stay on the roster.
Holy hell....Tua might just have to stay on the roster.
gofins60
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I don't know or care about the financial details of the cap and contracts, I just like watching the games. That said, it seems to me that there must be some way of getting out of Tua's contract without taking such a large hit. IMO, the team should be able to tell Tua that for the good of the team he has to redo his contract, and word it so that he can walk away with a bunch of money all at once (like severance pay) with nothing (or very little) counting against the cap.
Is this even possible? If not, then Grier and every other person who gives out contracts with no way out should be sued for negligence.
Tua is already counting $56 million against the cap in 2026. If he is a post June 1st he would count $67 million in 2026, meaning the Dolphins would have $11 million less in cap space. If the Chubb cut is a post June 1st designation that would free up $20 million more in cap space. Plus there are other guys they can easily cut such as Jason Sanders and Alec Ingold which would free up another $7 million in cap space.
Springveldt
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No, as @joenhre pointed out Tua is already counting $56M against the cap, so as it stands it costs $11M to cut him post June 1.
They could also restructure his base salary this year (it's $39M), convert some or nearly all of it to a signing bonus, prorate it out over the deal and it would lower his dead cap number this year but push more dead money into 2027. I suspect they will do this to facilitate a trade, they will convert some of that salary into a signing bonus as then the Dolphins eat that cap hit.
John813
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Agreed. And he's still owed real money, not just some dead cap hits that doesn't come out of Ross's bank account.
So, even if they have to eat ~60-70% of his guaranteed salary in a trade, it's still better than eating 100% and the dead cap that comes with it.
Sticky Gloves
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Just like him rot as 3rd string QB on bench if his agent can't find a trade for him.
stillhardcore
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7 years!!?? I don't see Reid coaching that long and Mahomes staying healthy that long.
stillhardcore
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Would take a 3 in a heartbeat.
John813
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Now, I'm drinking caffeine now, so excuse if my brain is still firing up.
He does have 54mil guaranteed real cash this year, through base+option+whatever bonuses per OTC.
We could max restructure over the 5 years, including 26+ the two void years to shave down 31.2 mil of base/cap hit for 26.
Any team acquiring him would then be on hook for base salary+ any non signing bonus/restructure guarantees that were written in his deal for future guarantees.
His 2026 savings if traded would be the left over min base salary of ~1.2mil.
So, just as much if they cut him outright, and if we restructure his salary to SB he gets that money right then and there. Maybe they could get a decent day 3 pick at that point?
Now, restructuring doesn't have to be at the max. could restructure 16mil, 20mil, 24mil etc...
Dolphins will have to eat a good portion of his deal to move him to another team, that's for sure. No one will take on 54mil in 26 guarantees.
Springveldt
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It doesn't really matter what part it is coming from (salary, option etc) it's just an accounting number based on the split of a post June 1 cut ($67.4M this year, $31.8M next year) and him counting as $56M on the cap this year.
As I said, they can move these numbers around by prorating his $15M option and $39M salary due this year it's just how much they want to move around or how much they need to move around to facilitate a trade. No one is taking on the contract as it stands but if they Dolphins prorated the option and did a max restructure of his salary then I'm sure they would have multiple takers as it essentially turns into a 1 year $5.2M contract for whoever takes it on. That's cheaper than a backup QB will cost in FA but the downside to that is the Dolphins eat a ton of dead cap next year but luckily they have plenty of space next year.
jimthefin
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I don't know if a 3 is realistic or not, we will have to wait to see what kind of market there is for Fitzpatrick.
He is still in his prime but is a FA after the coming season so he would either be a rental or you would be planning to extend him.
I would have no problem keeping him as well, and extending him 2-3 years as he is a very good fit in Halfley's Defense and is still playing at a high level.
But I can understand if Minkah does not want to go through a rebuild/teardown/tank process at this stage of his career.