Written by Conor Orr at NFL.com
The Dolphins struck a one-year deal with quarterback Jay Cutler worth as much as $13 million, giving them a significant amount of capital committed in salary-cap dollars to the position for 2017. Injured starter Ryan Tannehill is responsible for $20,300,000 of that total.
But unfortunately for Tannehill, the team can earn some much-needed relief toward their 2018 salary cap without him.
This is brutal timing for the former first-round pick, who signed a six-year, $95.272 million deal back in 2015, which was essentially a bundled group of one-year deals after the 2016 season. At a point very early in the league year next year, the Dolphins could opt to walk away from the deal for a sum far less than the $19.8 million Tannehill is set to count for next year. They might also view it as one more proving ground year for Tannehill — after all, $19.8 million isn’t much more than the $18.5 million the Bears are paying Mike Glennon in a bridge quarterback-type role.
It’s an unfortunate confluence of events. Ndamukong Suh’s contract balloons to include a $26,100,000 cap hit, taking up a significant amount of the total cap. Tannehill approaches the age of 30 and, with the Dolphins potentially nearing a natural overhauling point for their roster, the team could simply look to move on from a passer with knee issue that dates back to last December when he partially tore his ACL. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport noted Sunday that Miami coach Adam Gase made a serious push for Cutler after it became clear that Tannehill could need season-ending knee surgery
If you count Tannehill’s deal as essentially a one-year deal for 2017, the Dolphins would have zero quarterbacks under contract for the 2018 season if they part ways with their former first-round pick — a scary but enticing proposition for a young head coach with personnel sway and a potentially loaded quarterback draft class coming in 2018.
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