First details of Darren Waller’s contract with Dolphins reveal how much Miami is really betting on him for the 2025 season

The Dolphins are reportedly set to offer Waller a $2 million base salary this upcoming season, meaning more than half of the reported total value of his contract is going to be tied to performance incentives. The opportunity cost here for the Dolphins is about $1 million in cap space — at least until the team cuts down to 53 players at the end of the preseason. 

The player Waller is set to bump off the top-51 of Miami's cap space is earning approximately $1 million in compensation, so the difference of Waller's $2 million base versus the prior 51st player is what the team is going to lose in cap spending power. 

Whether or not Waller's $2 million salary is guaranteed is yet to be determined, although it feels unlikely that the Dolphins would offer too much in the way of guarantees to a player who did not play football last year. Instead, the pressure is on Waller to show up ready to roll in training camp, make the team, and then perform at a high enough level to earn the incentive thresholds (also undetermined) tucked into his contract. 

Should Waller earn the full $5 million available to him in 2025, something will have had to go unexpectedly right or wrong for him to get there — depending on your perspective. Miami would likely be thrilled to have to pay out after protecting themselves. But Waller getting that level of production could easily mean the 2025 season went completely sideways for one of their more high-profile weapons.