The Miami Dolphins’ first major extension under new leadership also marks a notable shift for one of their most important voices
The Miami Dolphins’ De’Von Achane extension feels a little different than some of the team’s other recent big deals — and that’s a good thing.
The full rundown of the Miami Dolphins‘ contract extension with RB De’Von Achane is in.
Achane put pen to paper earlier this week on a deal that was announced earlier this month. It serves as the first big extension of the Jon-Eric Sullivan era in Miami. And the deal marks an insightful chance to re-assess the team’s approach to contracts. What’s most interesting about this new deal? It may not have anything at all to do with the cash schedule or the dollars. One of the primary power players within the Miami Dolphins organization in the past is still in the picture. That would be executive vice president of football operations Brandon Shore.
Brandon Shore’s first big contract extension of the Miami Dolphins’ new build feels very different than the ones of yesterday
Let’s start here. Where does Shore fall on the Dolphins’ hierarchy? He got a new job title this offseason amid all the changes. The Dolphins’ senior vice president of football & business administration from 2021-2025, Shore is now Miami’s executive vice president of football operations. Per the team’s biography page, there’s no shortage of responsibilities on his plate. But primary among them:
“(Shore) serves as the team’s chief negotiator for player contracts, manages the salary cap and club compliance with the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.”
Reporting throughout the Miami Dolphins’ brief general manager search suggested that Miami was indeed looking to level up Shore’s role. It would allow him to work alongside a coach and a general manager. So how does this first big extension of this regime feel different, even amid someone from the past iteration of the franchise serving in a prominent role?
First and foremost, there are no option bonuses in this deal. In recent years, Miami has max’d out their ability to prorate money against the salary cap, even on shorter deals. This feat is achieved by teams through ‘void years’ which are effectively dummy years on the back of a contract to stash more debt from spending in the current year.
Achane’s contract has one ‘bonus’ scheduled — a $4.233 million signing bonus in 2026. But there are no automatic debt deferrals in 2027-2030. The compensation is scheduled through base salary, workout bonuses, and performance incentives. That’s all pretty standard practice. But the Dolphins not putting any option bonuses (which get treated just like a signing bonus) into Achane’s deal allows them to limit the amount of debt that gets pushed into the future annually. Or at least strategically manage it as they go.
The old versus the new
Miami did use this tool in contracts this offseason for TE Greg Dulcich and QB Malik Willis. Doing so was almost certainly out of necessity, given the Dolphins’ purge against the salary cap this offseason and the need to play funny money with any significant dollar amount of compensation. But with over $20 million in salary cap reinforcements coming from Bradley Chubb’s Post 6/1 release in just over a week, the hard part is over. And because the Achane signing bonus is minimal, the Dolphins needed need to play any chess with the cap here. They kept it checkers.
That feels informative, even amid Shore’s remaining presence in the operation. Contract extensions from the Chris Grier build such as Tyreek Hill, Tua Tagovailoa, and Jalen Ramsey all presented one or multiple option bonuses with debt deferral baked in. Some of this is common sense, as when your cash spending is up, you need to spread more of it out. When cash spending is down, you can pay as you play more frequently.
Nevertheless, seeing Miami use this extension to take another step closer to the healthy cap situation that Sullivan has called for despite the big dollars associated is a notable development.
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