The Miami Dolphins‘ biggest move of the offseason is here. There’s been top draft choices, free agent signings, monster trades — and none of them carry the magnitude of cash as what Sunday evening’s business has brought.
After much consideration and ongoing negotiations throughout the offseason, the Dolphins have locked in defensive tackle Zach Sieler on a three-year contract extension, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He’s now under contract through the end of the 2029 season in Miami.
Zach Sieler agrees to a three-year, $67.75 million extension
The year after the Dolphins paid essentially everyone, Sieler had to wait an extensive period of time before getting his well-deserved extension. None of Miami’s 2024 extensions have aged particularly gracefully, from Tua Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill to Jalen Ramsey — which created some speculation about whether or not Sieler would get a new contract at all amid a high-stakes year in 2025.
Sieler, for his part, has gone about his business in the right way. He’s been a consummate professional. He’s been engaged and fully participating in practice but also spent extensive time working hands on with the Dolphins’ young new faces in the defensive tackle room during practice. Sieler handled his press availability with grace, expressing confidence that the respect that he “knows (he’s) earned is coming”.
It’s here, now.
The Zach Allen contract in Denver appeared to serve as a useful domino for getting a refined price point on a deal. Allen signed a four-year, $102 million extension with the Broncos over the weekend — and it was apparent when the terms were announced that it could serve as a template for some figures for Sieler. That’s exactly what we got, too.
Allen’s $25.5 million annual average salary checks in a healthy distance ahead of Sieler’s new mark of $22.58 million. But it was the guaranteed money that offered the best guideline. Allen is essentially two full years younger than Sieler and got $69.5 million in guarantees. With the age difference, it felt like a safe bet that Sieler’s guarantees would be more limited than Allen. Sieler gets $44 million guaranteed in his new deal, which is presumably the cash he’ll be owed for 2025 and 2026.
Sieler has posted double-digit sacks in each of the last two seasons and was under contract through the end of the 2026 season with $15.95 million in cash owed to him. The new terms of his extension stacked on top of his current deal should give him a total contract commitment of five years and a maximum value of $83.7 million — a total average of $16.74 million per season when combining his new money with his old money.
That is, unequivocally, still a steal. Just on the new money average of $22.58 million, Sieler still ranks behind Chris Jones, Milton Williams, Zach Allen, Nnamdi Madubuike, Alim McNeill, Derrick Brown, Quinnen Williams, Jeffery Simmons and DeForest Buckner among NFL defensive tackles. The Dolphins surely love that value.
And for Sieler, it serves as a great reward for a player who has been developed in Miami since his arrival off the waiver wire in 2019. This is exactly the kind of player you want to reward for his buy-in to the system and for his growth as a leader. He’s one of the underrated talents in the NFL, thanks in part to his status as a former seventh-round draft pick out of Ferris State.
Hopefully a handsome raise will help shift his perception. But even with his new cash in hand, Sieler should continue to be one of the better bargains in the NFL’s defensive tackle market.
Dolphins’ Zach Sieler has reason to celebrate the NFL’s latest big new contract — even though the actual deal is not his to sign
It still isn't Zach Sieler's turn to get paid, but the newest deal is relevant to his price point.
Kyle Crabbs
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Kyle Crabbs
NFL National Writer