One big unanswered question that will determine the impact of Malik Willis’ pending signing on the Dolphins’ salary cap
Willis is coming. What’s it mean for the salary cap situation?
We’re set to welcome a new quarterback in South Florida this week. The Miami Dolphins have agreed to terms with QB Malik Willis.
The details of Willis’ contract are starting to shake loose — and it underscores the fact that the Dolphins are putting Willis at the center of this year’s limited free agency class. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said in his introduction to the fanbase that the team would seek “difference makers” in free agency. They seem to think they’ve got one. But what are the implications for the rest of Miami’s current salary cap situation? Let’s apply what we know about the deal.
What Malik Willis’ reported agreement with Miami means for the 2026 salary cap outlook
The reported terms of Willis’ contract are three-years, $67.5 million with $45 million guaranteed. Courtesy of Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, we have the year-by-year breakdown of the cash schedule for Willis’ deal. All of his compensation in the first two seasons ($45 million) is fully guaranteed at signing; which provides a former Day 2 pick like Willis financial security. How will the Dolphins carry that on the salary cap?
It depends on if the Dolphins put any void years on the back end of this contract.
Miami is eligible to put up to two void years on the back end of the contract to spread out the $22.25M signing bonus. If Miami did that, they’d carry $4.45 million (1/5th of $22.25M) against each of the next five years of their salary cap accounting, plus Willis’ $1.25M base salary. That would give Willis a salary cap charge of $5.7M for 2026.
But if the Dolphins bypass the void years and the contract is structured simply as built, they would carry three equal installments of $7.416M (1/3rd of $22.25M) against each of the next three seasons of the salary cap plus the $1.25M base salary — this would give Willis a $8.67M salary cap charge this season.
When you factor in the dead cap and subsequent cap space created by Miami’s reported and pending trade of SAF Minkah Fitzpatrick this morning, Miami should currently be sitting somewhere between $2M and $5M underneath the salary cap before factoring in the recently announced re-signing of TE Greg Dulcich. The Dolphins must have all their ducks in a row by the start of the league year, so expect some more moving around. The cap grace given by the Minkah deal went with the Willis contract — not that this leadership group would have it any other way.