The new Dolphins regime faces an important expiration date for one of their first major decisions and it will be here before you know it
There’s a lot of moving parts this offseason but some are less flexible than others.
The first year of business for Miami Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan is going to be all about cleaning up the mess.
The Dolphins’ cap situation and roster outlook have soured over the last 24 months, spiraling Miami from a promising team to a team that needs a full reset on just about every front. Coaching, salary cap, roster, talent, philosophy, you name it. The Dolphins are doing it. For one of the first orders of business for Sullivan, who comes to Miami from the Green Bay Packers organization, is to create a forceful unit up front along the line of scrimmage. He said so himself. His first challenging decision won’t take long to arrive on that front — there’s a deadline on one of Miami’s possible assets on the front lines.
James Daniels has a salary guarantee on March 13th that Miami must navigate
Offensive guard James Daniels was a major disappointment for Miami in 2025. The Dolphins signed one notable free agent to a sizable contract last March — and it was Daniels. They inked the veteran offensive guard to a three-year, $24 million contract to come play right guard for the team and got three snaps out of him for the entire season. It was a disaster.
Daniels is now set to enter into the second year of his contract with Miami. He’s more of an idea than an actual presence for Dolphins fans and the concerns around his availability seep into 2024, too. He’s played 211 total offensive snaps the last two seasons combined and just those three snaps for Miami since October 2024. The injury history the last two seasons paints an obvious picture to pull the plug and start anew.
Maybe Sullivan will. But the other side of this coin is the way Daniels’ contract is structured, there’s no real cap savings to be found by moving on. Miami, if they move on from Daniels before March 13th, will save just $114,000 against the salary cap.
James Daniels’ Miami Dolphins career
- Signed three-year, $24 million free agency contract last March
- Played 3 snaps to open season versus Colts, missed remainder of year with pec injury
- Owed $7.87 million in compensation in 2026
- $3.48 million of 2026 compensation fully guarantees on March 13th
They would save cash, though. Daniels’ contract has a built-in option bonus that automatically spreads out his 2026 compensation against the salary cap, making him cheaper to keep but pushing more of his cap commitments into 2027 and beyond. Is the cash savings worth the break-even in salary cap charges given some of the other massive cash (and cap) savings Miami can facilitate via names like Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, Austin Jackson, and others?
Sullivan and, presumably, executive Brandon Shore are going to have less than 60 days to make up their minds. Daniels has $3.48 million in salary that becomes fully guaranteed on March 13th — meaning their ability to move on from Daniels and save the cash while having a break-even option against the cap with a pre-June 1st release expires on that day.
Sullivan pledged in his first media exposure as the Dolphins general manager to build up the trenches. Is Daniels a piece of that puzzle relative to all the other moving parts in Miami? Consider it the first test of this new regime. And it has a much earlier expiration date than nearly any other move Miami will make this offseason.
Miami Dolphins News
The first interview request for a job on Jeff Hafley’s Dolphins coaching staff has emerged
The first known interview request of the new regime has emerged.
