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The Miami Dolphins have plenty of reasons to be quietly optimistic about their 2025 outlook, believe it or not.
The team infused a bunch of young talent into their offensive and defensive interiors. The supporting cast of skill players is more physical this year, which should help bolster the run game. Miami boasts one of the deeper linebacker rooms in football and has the health of their star pass rushers to lean on to start this season as well. But the outlook of the group's secondary is currently a daunting one — no matter what Tyreek Hill would like you to believe he's going to accomplish this summer with maligned cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
The good news for Miami is this — the league, with the exception of Jaire Alexander and the Baltimore Ravens, appears to be waiting for a resolution to the Ramsey saga. That means Miami currently isn't missing the boat and watching potential additions to their secondary wither away. The Dolphins, in that sense, hold the cards.
What will they do with them? Here are three bold predictions for the Miami Dolphins secondary ahead of the start of the 2025 season in September.
The Miami Dolphins will lose 2025 cap space in trading Jalen Ramsey
The Dolphins are currently facing the prospect of a $10.745 million dead cap charge this season by trading Ramsey, plus an additional $18.468 million dead cap charge in 2026. Ramsey's current cap commitment to play in Miami is $16.661 million in 2025, meaning that the Dolphins would save $5.916 million in cap space if they did not eat any more of Ramsey's salary to facilitate a trade.
The likelihood of such a thing happening feels slim — if a team was willing to offer a reasonable pick for Ramsey's services at the cost of his remaining $21 million salary, a trade would be done already.
The bold prediction: Miami will eat at least $6 million in salary to get the trade done, meaning they'll totally offset the potential savings and collect negative cap space to execute the trade despite it happening after June 1st.
Whoops.
Rasul Douglas will be a Dolphin shortly after Ramsey's departure
The Dolphins hosted Douglas on a free agent visit earlier this offseason and reportedly submitted an offer to sign him. Douglas passed on the offer, meaning it is presumably a team-friendly price point for the Dolphins.
Douglas most recently played on a contract that averaged $7 million per season, split between the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills. With Douglas turning 31 years old at the end of August, it's probably fair to assume that Douglas won't find a market that falls close to that previous figure — the age of 30 isn't kind to corners. Jaire Alexander's contract with the Ravens didn't do Douglas or the rest of the veteran corners any favors, either. Alexander's contract was one-year, $4 million with an additional $2 million in incentives. Names like Douglas should expect to come up short of that figure.
The interest makes it obvious that the team is going to add someone. Their actions suggest Douglas is a preferred option.
Formal prediction: Douglas signs a one-year contract worth up to $4 million with the Dolphins.
Cam Smith will not be a starter to open the 2025 season
Miami has sent some direct messages to their 2023 second-round draft choice — now is Cam Smith's time to him to make the leap. Smith spent much of his rookie season in the doghouse of then-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and then endured injuries in 2024. Smith was on injured reserve twice last season, once for a hamstring injury and then suffering a shoulder injury against the Packers mid-season.
But with Kader Kohou primed to hold one spot and an intent to sign an additional free agent after transitioning away from Ramsey, Smith's opportunity start may lie in the nickel or, alternatively, pushing Kohou inside. That's unlikely.
He'll have a chance to serve as the third outside cornerback, but he'll need to beat out 2024 undrafted free agent Storm Duck, 2025 rookie Jason Marshall Jr., and more.
Formal prediction: Smith is, at best, the third outside cornerback for Week 1.
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