Dolphins Salary Cap Outlook Slightly Improves

The Miami Dolphins' salary-cap situation is looking a little bit better, thanks to some unexpected good news.

The NFL has informed teams before they head to the scouting combine next week to expect the 2025 salary cap to be between $277.5 million and $281.5 million, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.

The salary cap last year was $255.4 million, so we're looking at an increase of somewhere between $22.1 million and $26.1 million. The salary cap jumped $30.6 million from 2023 to 2024.

The cap number, higher than the $272 million projection by overthecap.com, is good news for every team in the NFL, but particularly those with tight cap situations, and that clearly includes the Dolphins.

Using the figure exactly in the middle of the cap range reported, $279.5 million, the Dolphins now are on the positive side with $1.6 million of cap space, per overthecap.com, though they're $6.7 million over when the rookie class is factored in.

The Dolphins are in the sixth-worst position when it comes to getting to the cap limit by the start of the league year March 12. The five teams in worse shape are the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and, as usual, New Orleans Saints.