The Miami Dolphins announced on Saturday that the team has restructured the contracts of linebacker Koa Misi and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, the revised deals will save Miami nearly $20 million in salary cap space.
The Dolphins went ahead and exercised a built-in option on Suh’s contract, which frees up roughly $15 million in cap space for the upcoming 2016 season. Miami has also restructured the contract of linebacker Koa Misi while releasing wide receiver Greg Jennings, freeing up around $23.8 million in cap savings.
A lot of people in the Dolphins organization would have told you they had seen this coming a year ago when Suh signed his record-breaking six-year, $114 million deal with Miami, and former general manager Mike Tannenbaum hinted at this particular move in January.
In order for Miami to get a cheap base salary ($985,000) for last season, they agreed to pay Suh a monster of a signing bonus. So the Dolphins gave the defensive superstar a hefty $25.5 million signing bonus in 2015. But now that cheap base salary ($985,000) is paid, the extremely massive annually salaries are about to kick in each year — Suh is set to earn $23.485 million in 2016 — and it becomes increasingly difficult to manage Suh’s cap numbers. His 2016 & 2017 salaries are fully guaranteed, which right away makes cutting or releasing Suh virtually impossible.
Suh was ranked as the sixth-best interior defender by Pro Football Focus, recording six sacks and 61 tackles in 16 games last season. For all his perceived failings in Miami, Suh was his old disruptive self in the opposing backfield. His 20 quarterback hits were tied for third-most among defensive tackles and his 17 tackles for losses were second-most in the NFL.
The Dolphins finished the 2015 season with a shameful 6-10 record while finishing in last place in the AFC East. So as of now, Miami needs to put the cap savings from Suh’s restructure to good use so they can upgrade both sides of the ball. Miami was ranked 26th in total offense and 25th in total defense.
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