PFF’s Favorite and Least Favorite Miami Dolphins Free Agency Move

[where's th'fish]

Paying for guys who are no longer on the team is an incredibly dumb way to run a business.

Apparently it's fine because it doesn't result in the entire team vaporizing in an instant and taking half of Florida with it. What you don't know will hurt you, you just won't understand how. That's people who believe our cap is just fine for you.

 

[gofins60]

Apparently it's fine because it doesn't result in the entire team vaporizing in an instant and taking half of Florida with it. What you don't know will hurt you, you just won't understand how. That's people who believe our cap is just fine for you.

What I don't know will hurt me? Hah! What I do know is that I don't give a damn about the salary cap. Yes, I realize that it's standard practice for GMs to spread money out over multiple years, have dead money for players no longer on the team count against the cap, and other nonsense like that. But, just because they all do it doesn't mean that it's a smart thing to do. We've all heard of teams in salary cap hell, and it's usually due to not being fiscally responsible when handing out contracts.

 

[Bob512]

What I don't know will hurt me? Hah! What I do know is that I don't give a damn about the salary cap. Yes, I realize that it's standard practice for GMs to spread money out over multiple years, have dead money for players no longer on the team count against the cap, and other nonsense like that. But, just because they all do it doesn't mean that it's a smart thing to do. We've all heard of teams in salary cap hell, and it's usually due to not being fiscally responsible when handing out contracts.

While I get the notion of how this all works being counter intuitive to normal business practices, I'm continually amazed at the lack of recognition that the NFL is not a traditional business. Using the same basic principles of how you would handle your personal check book or a risk adverse with your money is not typical or even common in the NFL.

Teams write contracts with players knowing they will likely change multiple times over the life of those contracts and giving themselves the most flexibility possible. Teams take risks on players all the time and cut players because the dead money is a better option for them than keeping them. That might not be the way you would do things.....but you don't run a NFL team. If you did, you would also be playing this game to keep the teams stocked with talent and rearranging the pieces each year to try to maximize talent vs. salary. NFL teams also have capologists that do nothing but manage this process to maximize its benefits. I wouldn't assume for an instant that they don't know what they are doing.

3 weeks ago, 90% of us on this site thought we wouldn't be making any moves in this Free Agency....yet here we are. The system has been worked and we are fielding what looks to be a pretty competitive team in 2024. We also have $40M in cap space available next year and more can be made available as needed.

As for being a "smart thing to do".......the average NFL team is now worth $5.1 Billion dollars and grew 14% last year. I don't think I would be offering them any business advice as they seem to be doing just fine

 

[WestLondonDolphin]

Thats not standard operating procedure no matter how you spin it.

Its what you do when you don't have much to speak of from recent drafts.

It absolutely is standard operating procedure.

The whole structure of the salary cap incentives it. And it’s why the comparison with household finances (mortgages, credit cards) is misguided.

This tweet does a very good job of explaining it

 

[Czonka!39]

It absolutely is standard operating procedure.

The whole structure of the salary cap incentives it. And it’s why the comparison with household finances (mortgages, credit cards) is misguided.

This tweet does a very good job of explaining it

Love CK's football opinions. What about the 3 year stack of 26% current inflation in the US. Does that count

 

[The Ghost]

It absolutely is standard operating procedure.

The whole structure of the salary cap incentives it. And it’s why the comparison with household finances (mortgages, credit cards) is misguided.

This tweet does a very good job of explaining it

Dead money is the goal, emulate the Saints, got it.

 

[WestLondonDolphin]

Dead money is the goal, emulate the Saints, got it.

You could just say you don’t understand how the cap works.

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Etuoo33]

Another factor in cap management is job security, as in GM and Head Coach. They don't win or show improvement they lose their jobs. To me that means the "down the road" salary cap will probably be somebody else's problem. That makes the "down the road dead money" is not as important as progress right ****ing now.

 

[The Ghost]

You could just say you don’t understand how the cap works.

Nothing wrong with that.

So thinking that accumulating dead cap money and using void years is a positive means you know how the cap works, got it genius.

Maybe later you can tell me how to pay all my bills will credit cards.

 

[where's th'fish]

What I don't know will hurt me? Hah! What I do know is that I don't give a damn about the salary cap. Yes, I realize that it's standard practice for GMs to spread money out over multiple years, have dead money for players no longer on the team count against the cap, and other nonsense like that. But, just because they all do it doesn't mean that it's a smart thing to do. We've all heard of teams in salary cap hell, and it's usually due to not being fiscally responsible when handing out contracts.

I don't think you understood my post. I was saying that people think there are no consequences to restructuring contacts because they don't understand how things work. They simply see free agents being signed and they believe it's all fine.

 

[where's th'fish]

Another factor in cap management is job security, as in GM and Head Coach. They don't win or show improvement they lose their jobs. To me that means the "down the road" salary cap will probably be somebody else's problem. That makes the "down the road dead money" is not as important as progress right ****ing now.

Exactly. CK gave this long and detailed financial explanation, but the simple fact is GMs, like coaches, are under tremendous pressure to win every year. The smart ones, the best ones, figure out sustainable ways that never get them below .500. Others may not be so smart, but are limited by their owners, for whatever reason. A few decide to go all-in and if they succeed they may survive the bill. And a few others get caught replacing last year's mistakes with new mistakes, hamstrung enough so they can't hold on to the homegrown talent leaving when their rookie contracts expire -the very key to sustainable winning walking out the door.

What's going to happen to Loomis when they Saints decide to bite the bullet? He's getting fired, that's what. And so is Grier if we ever get below .500 again without getting the prize. Neither has any incentive to get the foot off the pedal.

Besides, Grier committed to a short window the moment he traded for Tyreek. He's been following up accordingly.

 

[gofins60]

Reek and Chubb technically should count as 'draft choices' and pretty damn good ones too. They are veteran and proven unlike 50% of first round draft choices. While it's expensive, they are near the top at their positions. You can argue against Chubb but he has made the D better for the attention he occupies. Reek is the best, period.

True; they are basically more expensive, already proven draft picks. On one hand that is a great way to fill a couple of holes, especially if you think the team is close to being a contender. On the other hand, it's not so great if you have too many of those players on your team. A team needs to have a steady influx of young, cheap talent from the draft to keep the roster young and manage the salary cap. By trading for a bunch of these guys, you're losing out on the picks needed to bring in young talent, and you're also spending too much of the cap on too few players.

IOW, it's a good tool to use, just don't overuse it.

 

[gofins60]

While I get the notion of how this all works being counter intuitive to normal business practices, I'm continually amazed at the lack of recognition that the NFL is not a traditional business. Using the same basic principles of how you would handle your personal check book or a risk adverse with your money is not typical or even common in the NFL.

Teams write contracts with players knowing they will likely change multiple times over the life of those contracts and giving themselves the most flexibility possible. Teams take risks on players all the time and cut players because the dead money is a better option for them than keeping them. That might not be the way you would do things.....but you don't run a NFL team. If you did, you would also be playing this game to keep the teams stocked with talent and rearranging the pieces each year to try to maximize talent vs. salary. NFL teams also have capologists that do nothing but manage this process to maximize its benefits. I wouldn't assume for an instant that they don't know what they are doing.

3 weeks ago, 90% of us on this site thought we wouldn't be making any moves in this Free Agency....yet here we are. The system has been worked and we are fielding what looks to be a pretty competitive team in 2024. We also have $40M in cap space available next year and more can be made available as needed.

As for being a "smart thing to do".......the average NFL team is now worth $5.1 Billion dollars and grew 14% last year. I don't think I would be offering them any business advice as they seem to be doing just fine

As for NFL teams being successful multi-billion dollar businesses, you're right... they are, and I'm just a clueless idiot. However, the problem I see with them is that they're making that money by ripping off the fans. IMO, prices for merchandise, game tickets, and concessions are outrageous.

 

[rafael]

It absolutely is standard operating procedure.

The whole structure of the salary cap incentives it. And it’s why the comparison with household finances (mortgages, credit cards) is misguided.

This tweet does a very good job of explaining it

That's a good analogy and what people thinking "how do you think all the dead money and void years will magically work itself out" don't understand. It works out in a world where that cap rises at +13% per year.

You'll still always have to balance the draft and free agency over the log haul. Sports Illustrated just did a ranking of the best drafting teams over the last 5 years that had Miami at #11. So by this objective measure, Miami is still an above average drafting team. But their grading was a little odd IMO.

• Each first-team All-Pro season: 5 points
• Each second-team All-Pro season: 3 points
• Each season as primary starter (per PFR: 1 point)
• Each regular-season win: 1 point
• Each wild-card win or bye week: 2 points
• Each divisional win: 3 points
• Each conference title: 4 points
• Each Super Bowl victory: 5 points

Playoff wins and SB victories are a measure results versus drafting. They did divide into total points and draft points though. Just looking at the draft points, Miami was the # 4 best drafting team over the last 5 years.

Either way, it's clear that over that 5 year period Miami has not abandoned the draft nor drafted poorly.

 

[The Ghost]

That's a good analogy and what people thinking "how do you think all the dead money and void years will magically work itself out" don't understand. It works out in a world where that cap rises at +13% per year.

You'll still always have to balance the draft and free agency over the log haul. Sports Illustrated just did a ranking of the best drafting teams over the last 5 years that had Miami at #11. So by this objective measure, Miami is still an above average drafting team. But their grading was a little odd IMO.

• Each first-team All-Pro season: 5 points
• Each second-team All-Pro season: 3 points
• Each season as primary starter (per PFR: 1 point)
• Each regular-season win: 1 point
• Each wild-card win or bye week: 2 points
• Each divisional win: 3 points
• Each conference title: 4 points
• Each Super Bowl victory: 5 points

Playoff wins and SB victories are a measure results versus drafting. They did divide into total points and draft points though. Just looking at the draft points, Miami was the # 4 best drafting team over the last 5 years.

Either way, it's clear that over that 5 year period Miami has not abandoned the draft nor drafted poorly.

But youre ignoring the fact that we’ve pulled very little from the last two drafts, while contending teams like the Eagles and Niners (who have each been to multiple Super Bowls in the last 8 years) have stacked rosters (SF) or have supplemented their future spending with a lot of recent draft picks (PHL).

We haven’t. We’ve just managed to go all-in for a second time. So if you’re going to be a team using void years and dead cap money, you need to have something to show for it. All we have is similar to those teams is heavy debt in 2027.

We’re more like the Saints than the Niners or Eagles.

So to say using future cap money to contend for a wild card position is normal, is absolutely foolish.

And with Tua, Waddle, Philkips and Holland coming up for new contracts soon, all we can do is further compound the problem or continue to see players we’ve drafted, leave.

FOOLISH business practice.

We’re on the verge of being in a 3 year draft drought where we have the fewest picks draft assets in that time frame of any team in league history and we’re operating like a team that missed the Super Bowl by a couple points and not a team that was just lucky to be in the post season to begin with.

The Eagles have quite a few players they expect to be around in 2027, who can we say we expect to still have in 2027, as do the Chiefs.