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Scouting. Join Joe Marino and me

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0:17

by position analysis of the upcoming

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Dudes on YouTube or wherever you listen

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to your favorite podcasts. Today

0:29

on Lockdown Dolphins, we take a

0:31

look at the new salary cap management

0:33

tool that is catching fire across the

0:36

league. Void years, what they are,

0:38

how they work, and why we should

0:40

care as the Dolphins begin to implement

0:42

it into their roster management strategy. You

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are Lockdown Dolphins, your daily

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Miami Dolphins podcast, part

0:51

of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your

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team every day. All

0:59

right, Miami, welcome

1:02

to another episode of Lockdown Dolphins.

1:04

It is your team every

1:06

day here on the Lockdown Network.

1:08

I am your host, Kyle Krabs,

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a lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, host

1:12

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NFL Scouting. You can find

1:17

our shows on YouTube or wherever you listen to

1:19

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today on the show. It's

1:44

all the rage. It's all the buzz.

1:47

It's all a lot of people are talking about. It's

1:49

been a thing for a few years, but

1:51

this was the first year that

1:53

you really saw the Dolphins dip

1:56

their toe, be it more than their toe

1:59

into the pond. as

2:01

it pertains to void years. So

2:03

we're gonna get into a little bit of

2:05

salary cap management, team building

2:07

strategy, asset

2:10

planning, I think is probably another

2:12

good way to put it. And

2:16

the concept of void years is

2:19

adding dummy years to the

2:21

back end of a contract. That

2:24

the player is not under contract

2:26

with the team as

2:28

additional placeholders for more salary

2:31

cap to

2:34

be spaced out for a signing

2:37

bonus. So for example, Kendall Fuller.

2:40

Kendall Fuller signed a two-year 15

2:44

million dollar contract with the Dolphins with

2:46

a signing bonus of 6.765 million

2:50

dollars on

2:52

a two-year, not a math guy

2:54

so I have my calculator right here, but just to kind

2:57

of get your introduction on a

2:59

two-year 15 dollar contract if you

3:01

took that

3:03

6,765,000 dollar

3:07

signing bonus and you divided across the two

3:09

years in which the player was under contract

3:11

for the team, they would

3:13

be responsible for one half of

3:15

that signing bonus in each of the two years he's under

3:17

contract which would be 3.382 million

3:22

dollars in 2024 and

3:24

2025. That

3:27

plus Kendall Fuller's base

3:30

salary this year which is the remainder of like

3:32

the checks that he collects throughout the course of

3:34

the week or

3:37

week to week would have his

3:39

salary cap hit at approximately four and

3:41

a half million dollars for

3:44

the first year of this contract and

3:46

then year two he would make

3:48

another six and a half million dollars plus the other

3:50

half of the signing bonus at 3.38 million you'd be

3:52

talking about 10

3:54

million dollar cap hit or so in

3:56

2025 the second of two years. With

4:00

void years and if you're watching on YouTube

4:02

you picked a great day to be watching on YouTube visually

4:07

regard me It

4:09

often put three void years on the back

4:12

Of kendall folder's contract. So he is under

4:14

contract to play with the team in

4:17

2024 and 2025 but

4:20

in 2026 2027

4:22

and 2028 There

4:25

was a prorated portion of that 6.765

4:27

million dollar signing bonus That

4:31

makes the prorated amount not

4:34

3.38, but instead Divided

4:37

by two it's divided by five so 2026 2027

4:39

and 2028 Each

4:43

have one fifth of the 6.7 million

4:46

dollar signing bonus, which is equal mathematically

4:48

to 1.35 million dollars as

4:51

a result Kendall Fuller's 2024 salary

4:53

cap hit Is

4:56

2 million dollars less than it would be otherwise? His

5:00

2025 salary cap hit is

5:02

approximately 2 million dollars less than what it would

5:04

be otherwise Now

5:07

here's where it gets tricky No

5:10

matter how many void years you put on the back end of

5:12

a contract The

5:15

first year that player is no longer

5:17

under contract with the team It

5:20

works just like dead money when you cut

5:23

a player or trade a player It

5:26

accelerates into that year

5:29

So if kendall fuller were to not resign with the dolphins

5:31

in 2026 the

5:35

1.35 million for 2026 2027 27 and 2028 would

5:40

all accelerate Into

5:42

the 2026 salary cap as dead cap for a

5:44

total of four million dollars Which makes sense because

5:46

they saved about two million dollars this year and

5:48

next year against the cap By putting

5:50

the void years on the back end of the d There's

5:54

a lot more that

5:56

goes into the pros and cons

5:59

and the strengths and weaknesses and there's ways

6:01

that you can continue to manipulate that money and we're

6:03

going to talk about that in just

6:05

a little bit. But that's just your introductory example

6:08

of how the Dolphins structured a free agent signing

6:10

for a player in Kendall Fuller, won

6:12

a two-year fifteen million dollar contract and

6:15

saved themselves over the next two seasons about four

6:17

million dollars worth of cap space. Which

6:21

then in turn you have to

6:23

pay the check for at some point. We'll

6:27

talk about what their flexibility is with Kendall Fuller's

6:29

contract in just a little bit. But I want

6:32

to be focused right now on

6:34

looking at what Dolphins

6:36

players it is

6:38

established have void

6:40

years in their contracts

6:42

after the first wave of free agencies.

6:44

So if you're watching on YouTube, outstanding,

6:46

we're still going to be using over the cap. If

6:49

you are, excuse me, spot rack. We'll use over

6:51

the cap for another one of the specific contracts.

6:54

If you are not watching, it's a good thing.

6:56

This is an audio podcast as well. I'll

6:58

read through all the players that

7:00

have void money on their deal. Alec Ingold,

7:02

fullback. He has

7:04

approximately four hundred and fifteen

7:07

thousand dollars in

7:09

void money in twenty twenty seven and

7:11

twenty twenty eight. That was after they

7:13

restructured his contract as a part of

7:15

their salary cap compliance strategy through

7:17

the beginning of this offseason. At

7:21

tight end. Durham

7:23

Smythe. They restructured his

7:26

contract as well. He's under contract to twenty

7:28

twenty five. He has four hundred thousand

7:30

dollars in void money for twenty twenty six twenty

7:32

twenty seven and twenty twenty eight. A grand total

7:34

of one point two million dollars in

7:37

prorated money put off to future years

7:40

in which he is not under contract with the team. John

7:43

Smith signs his contract with the

7:45

team. He

7:47

has three years of void money at

7:49

five hundred and fifty thousand dollars apiece.

7:51

A grand total of one point six

7:54

five million dollars in prorated money that

7:56

starts in twenty twenty six. The

8:00

Taran Armstead contract got the most

8:02

exotic workup for the Dolphins. They

8:05

have a grand total of 2.9 million dollars

8:07

in pro-rated

8:09

money that he is not under contract with the

8:11

team. 1.46

8:14

in 2027 and 1.46 in 2028. If

8:19

you're watching on YouTube, you can see there's

8:21

a bigger number in the first year that's

8:24

in yellow, which are designated as void

8:26

years. That's because that's the grand total

8:28

of all the subsequent years of void

8:30

money that's accelerated. That would be your

8:32

cap hit. Hope

8:36

that makes sense. Austin Jackson in

8:38

year one of his new three-year deal,

8:41

he has 3.6 million

8:44

dollars in pro-rated money into future

8:46

years in which he's not under contract with the team

8:48

starting in 2027. Zach

8:51

Seeler got a contract restructure. They put two void years

8:53

on the back end of that deal for

8:56

a grand total of 2.8 million

8:58

dollars starting in 2027. Or

9:02

I guess that would kick in in 2027. Bradley

9:05

Chubb got a contract restructure with void money on the

9:07

back end of that deal. 2.75 million dollars worth. Here's

9:13

where it gets big. Kendall Fuller, who

9:15

we already acknowledged, 4 million dollars, 1.353

9:18

million dollars in 2026, 2027, and 2028. And

9:25

then Jalen Ramsey got the big contract restructure

9:27

where his salary and his roster bonus got

9:30

rolled into a new signing bonus and they

9:32

put all of that pro-rated money on the

9:34

back shelf. He's

9:36

under contract through 2025. He

9:39

has the big void money hit and we'll talk

9:41

about what that means here on this episode as

9:43

well. 2026, his

9:45

void contract hit if they let Jalen Ramsey walk

9:47

would be 18.46 million dollars. That's

9:50

a big number. A lot of

9:53

these are relatively small. They're relatively

9:55

easy to take in stride. 2.2

10:00

million here, 2.7 million dollars there. As

10:04

you go through time, yes, it absolutely adds

10:06

up, but it's hundreds of

10:08

thousands of dollars with salary cap that's

10:10

growing at a rate of about $30

10:12

million per season that

10:15

you're gonna pay for two, three,

10:17

four years from now. We'll

10:20

talk a little bit about that as

10:22

well with the risks and

10:24

rewards, which will come later here on today's episode of

10:26

the show. So, Miami kinda came

10:28

into this process after Xavier Howard and Jerome

10:30

Baker. I think they had three active contracts.

10:33

It was Austin Jackson, Jason Sanders, who we didn't

10:35

mention at first. And

10:38

then I believe Jaylen Ramsey was the

10:40

third and final of the active contracts

10:42

before free agency started. So they've added

10:44

quite a few contracts through both restructures

10:47

and through free agent signings. This also did

10:50

not include Aaron Brewer, who's

10:53

not updated on spot

10:56

racks list, but over the cap has that contract.

10:58

And that contract has two years worth of void

11:00

years as well for a grand

11:03

total of 2.236 million

11:05

dollars starting in 2027. So,

11:10

you got kinda the gauntlet of the names now.

11:13

How do void years work beyond just

11:15

the concept of prorating future money or

11:18

future cap for money paid

11:20

now? And then

11:22

what are the risks and rewards? That is what we're

11:24

gonna cover next on the remainder of today's episode of

11:26

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your team every day. So

12:56

we're kind of through the introductory

12:58

phase Miami enters the

13:00

fray with void

13:03

years at a much more aggressive rate than what

13:05

they had been in previous years. Jerome

13:08

Baker's contract and Xavier Howard's contracts before

13:10

they terminated both of those contracts did

13:13

have void dollars on them as well. So Miami's

13:15

kind of dabbled there's some

13:17

teams that are really aggressive with this. I

13:21

think the Philadelphia Eagles are a team that comes to

13:23

mind and the Philadelphia Eagles are a team that's really

13:26

interesting because if you wind the clocks

13:28

back to like 2021 when Philly was

13:30

in a

13:33

really sour spot and they regressed

13:35

as far as the

13:38

record with Doug Peterson and they

13:40

kind of flopped they had some

13:42

injuries they transitioned to Jalen Hurts

13:44

they fired Doug Peterson. That

13:46

was a team that was like

13:49

negative 71 million dollars in cap

13:51

space and how Howie

13:53

Roseman has been able to kind of

13:55

circumvent and navigate this is they reset

13:57

some positions as far as when where

14:00

they're paying contracts. They

14:02

had a new infusion and a new wave

14:04

of moving up and down the draft board

14:06

to create a spike in

14:08

draft capital. And they utilized void

14:10

years to strategically manage the right

14:12

assets on the team. And now

14:14

Philly was

14:16

in a much healthier salary cap position now

14:19

than what they were just

14:22

two years ago. Philly's right now estimated

14:24

to about $30 million in cap space.

14:26

But when you look at, and again,

14:28

if you're watching on YouTube, if you're not watching on

14:31

YouTube, give

14:33

me some consideration to swing by the YouTube channel. They

14:36

just signed Saquon Barkley to a contract. It was like

14:38

a three or $47 million contract. And

14:40

they got $4.5 million in void money there. A.J.

14:43

Brown has $9.7 million in

14:45

void money on his contract. Gallus

14:47

Goddard's got 8.2. Lane

14:49

Johnson's got 11.2. Jordan

14:52

Milata's got $26 million

14:54

in void money in 2026. Jason

14:57

Kelsey retired, and he's got

14:59

$16.5 million in cap space for 2025. Josh

15:04

Sweat, 9.7. Fletcher

15:07

Cox retiring. He's got a $10 million void

15:09

cap hit for 2025. Hassan

15:12

Redick, they're trying to trade. He's

15:15

got 14.68 starting in 2025. Darius

15:17

Slay, 14. James Bradbury, 21. I

15:21

say this to give the proper perspective for

15:25

what teams are doing with

15:27

void dollars and how too

15:29

much of anything is a bad thing. I

15:32

don't think the Dolphins have reached that point

15:35

because for Philly, what

15:37

they're kind of struggling with with

15:40

some of their key spots, at

15:42

cornerback, you got James Bradbury and Darius Slay's

15:45

older corners who are regressing and can't run

15:47

and you're trying to replace him, but

15:49

Bradbury's got two more years on his deal and

15:52

then $21 million in pro-rated money. So

15:55

who are you gonna give the void contracts to?

15:59

And that's part of the risks and rules. for Miami. But

16:01

as far as how you can

16:03

manage some of these hits,

16:06

we'll go back to the Kendall Fuller

16:08

contract, right? Kendall Fuller signs the two-year,

16:11

fifteen million dollar contract that has

16:13

a six point seven million dollar

16:15

signing bonus that's spread out across five

16:17

seasons, even though Kendall Fuller

16:19

is only under contract for two of those

16:21

to actually play with the team. If

16:24

Kendall Fuller were to sign a contract

16:27

extension with

16:29

the Dolphins for 2026, 2027,

16:34

say he signs a new two-year deal for

16:37

new years on the back end of

16:40

this contract. If Kendall

16:42

Fuller resigns, those

16:45

three years worth of 1.35 million dollars

16:48

no longer accelerate up

16:50

into the current year because he's still playing

16:52

with the team. So instead of

16:54

taking 1.35 times three

16:57

for four million dollar cap hit in dead money in

17:00

2026, it just would continue to have

17:02

an additional

17:08

1.35 million dollar

17:10

charge for each year that

17:12

he remains on the contract until

17:15

that initial signing bonus and its

17:17

pro-rated dollars run out, which would be in 2028.

17:20

So if he signed in 2026 for

17:22

new money, let's say he

17:24

signed a two-year, twenty million

17:26

dollar contract, the Dolphins did no funny

17:29

business, it was just we're gonna pay you ten million dollars in cash

17:32

in 2026 and ten million

17:34

dollars in cash in 2027. He

17:36

would have a ten million dollar

17:38

salary and then the additional one-third

17:41

of remaining 1.353 million dollars from his

17:46

original signing bonus with the first of the

17:49

three void years, his cap hit would

17:51

be eleven point three five million

17:54

dollars. His cap hit in 2027, the second year,

17:57

we're gonna give you ten million dollars in cash. No

18:00

funny business with the cap and I do it this

18:02

way so that it's a little easier to process the

18:04

math would also be eleven

18:07

point three five million dollar cap hit and

18:10

then the fifth and or the the fifth year

18:12

of the original signing bonus being kicked Out in

18:14

2028 if he doesn't play with

18:16

the team that year, then the void money would

18:18

only be one point three five million dollars so

18:23

Miami has kind of all these Nickles

18:26

and dimes if you will right

18:28

that they have small money here.

18:30

They have small money there committed

18:32

to void dollars

18:35

To the tune of a couple hundred thousand dollars

18:37

across two or three seasons for the vast majority

18:39

of the players that they have What

18:44

this allows you to do is you can

18:46

kind of selectively identify, you know and and

18:48

say you wanted to move on From

18:51

Durham Smythe let's say the Dolphins play

18:53

2025 He would have

18:56

one year remaining on his contract for four point

18:58

eight million dollars I would be his

19:00

salary cap that's scheduled and due to him in

19:04

cash he's owed three

19:07

point three million dollars in 2025 versus

19:10

a four point eight million dollar cap hit and

19:13

then he has an additional one point two million

19:15

dollars in void money for 2026

19:18

2027 2028 because

19:20

they Restructured his contract

19:22

in this year to get cap

19:25

compliant and took four hundred

19:27

thousand dollars and divided that out across five C's

19:30

For four hundred thousand dollars apiece. So that's what? Two

19:33

million dollars they took his two million two million dollars of

19:35

his salary Converted it to a

19:37

signing bonus spread it out across the remainder of

19:39

the contract, which is two more years and then

19:41

three dummy years behind You

19:46

could then cut Durham

19:49

Smythe hypothetically ahead of 2025 And

19:54

it would just be all of the

19:56

dead money So all of the prorated

19:58

money from cash that he's already received

20:00

including voyeurs would accelerate up. They can

20:02

erase the 2026 dead

20:04

cap figure of Durham's smite of 1.2 million dollars if

20:06

he's not on the team in 2026 by moving on

20:09

from him

20:12

in 2025 and they would still

20:14

save 2.17 million

20:17

dollars in cap space in 2025

20:19

because the void money that was

20:21

prorated out is still less than

20:24

the salary and cash that he would still be

20:26

owed that season. So

20:29

you have early outs out of void money

20:31

as well. It's

20:34

good to know that you can do that and the other

20:37

thing that I learned just when you think you know everything

20:39

there is to know, you pay

20:41

attention every week and the NFL is going to

20:43

teach you something else. The Baltimore

20:45

Ravens. This was interesting.

20:47

Odell Beckham's contract that he signed

20:51

was a one-year 15 million

20:53

dollar contract that put a bunch of void years on

20:55

the back end of it for the Ravens. He

20:58

signed it last year obviously. Sounds

21:00

like a visit with Miami went well. Nothing

21:02

was agreed to. Probably trying to figure out

21:04

conditional money. But

21:08

the Ravens based on when his contract

21:10

voided cut him

21:14

before his contract voided which

21:16

I did not know you could do and

21:19

the reason why they did that was

21:21

they designated him as

21:23

a post June 1st cut.

21:27

So even with

21:30

void years you

21:32

can still divide the

21:36

dollars across two seasons

21:39

if you designate a player with a voiding contract

21:41

as a post June 1st cut which makes sense

21:43

why Miami is interested in knocking on the door

21:47

because they are interested in players

21:50

who were cut and are not going to

21:52

impact the compensatory pick formula. Odell Beckham at

21:54

wide receiver is one of the better options

21:56

that is on the market that

21:59

would Classifies a non compensatory qualifying

22:01

free agent between now and the Monday

22:03

after the draft Which we

22:05

did compensatory picks last week on friday and did the

22:07

big deep dot like we're doing right now on void

22:09

years So

22:12

you could theoretically derm smite has three void

22:15

years on the end of his contract at four

22:17

hundred thousand dollars apiece You could

22:19

cut post june 1st before his contract

22:21

voids And you would

22:23

have four hundred thousand dollars in the first year And

22:26

then the other eight hundred thousand dollars in the second year after

22:28

that for 2026 and then 2027 All

22:33

kinds of funny money going on but this is

22:36

This is the manipulation of the salary cap

22:39

And it's rules that is important context to

22:41

understand as the dolphins

22:44

navigate through this

22:46

chapter of their competitive

22:50

window So

22:52

what are the risks and what are the rewards we're going to

22:54

talk about? Jaylen ramsay and

22:56

his contract next as the

22:58

big one because that's the big dollar amount for

23:00

miami That looms large for them

23:02

to have to tackle and it's

23:05

one of the closer ones on the calendar

23:07

for When these contracts are potentially

23:09

voiding so we're going to get into that next

23:12

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23:51

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23:54

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23:56

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23:58

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24:00

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24:02

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24:05

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24:22

your team, every day. I

24:27

think the biggest

24:31

thing that I have with void years,

24:33

and it's a slippery slope.

24:35

And some teams have already poured gasoline

24:38

on this fire to the umpteenth degree, like in

24:40

New Orleans Saints, who

24:42

signed Chase Young to

24:44

a one-year, $13 million contract,

24:47

but $8 million of it is stipulated on what

24:51

how many games he dread, like per game he gets

24:53

a portioned amount of that,

24:56

but it's considered to be likely to be earned.

24:59

So they have to account for it against the

25:01

cap, but then they put void years in, they

25:03

put four void years on the back end of

25:05

a one-year, $13 million contract, and then they get

25:07

credit for more cap in 2025 if he doesn't

25:10

reach the playtime instead. Just like insane

25:13

behavior. It's

25:15

like totally insane for a team

25:18

in New Orleans that every year

25:20

they experience attrition with two or three

25:22

really good players. Like

25:24

what happened with Robert Hunt and Christian

25:26

Wilkins? It happens annually for

25:28

the Saints every

25:30

year for a handful of guys. And

25:33

that's what Miami needs to aspire to

25:36

not be, right? Because then

25:38

you regress back into what you were in 2020 or

25:40

2016, 2017, 2018. It's

25:45

a team with older, more expensive players, not a

25:47

lot of ceiling, not a lot of young core

25:49

nucleus, and you are chasing

25:52

being one piece away. We

25:54

saw how that worked for Miami, that's not what you want to

25:56

do. And I think Miami has done a

25:58

fair job thus far. Since

26:00

this is the first year they're really getting into

26:03

void years. It's still new It's

26:06

still fresh and there's not

26:08

big commitments with the exception of the Jaywin-Ramsay

26:11

contract and that's really important Because

26:14

you can't let it snowball if you

26:16

just let it snowball and you're like

26:19

the addict that can't say

26:21

no That's when

26:23

you're gonna wake up and you're gonna go

26:25

through your bank statements and your credit card

26:27

bills and you're gonna say Oh

26:29

my goodness. We got six figures in debt here, and

26:31

I don't know how we're gonna get out of it, right?

26:36

Six figures is like normal person

26:38

lay person debt not

26:40

NFL franchise salary cap debt by

26:42

the way. Um But

26:45

the Jaywin-Ramsay contract is the one that stands

26:47

out to me Because

26:50

there is significant pro-rated dollars

26:53

awaiting starting in 2026 18

26:57

million dollars worth to be exact With

27:02

a contract That's

27:04

got two years left. They just reworked it. So he'll

27:06

be locked in this year the

27:08

out for Jaywin-Ramsay They

27:11

could move on from Jaywin-Ramsay after this year

27:14

and If it

27:16

was pre June 1st, they would effectively just take

27:18

a bath on it. They'd save 1 million dollars.

27:20

They'd have 25 million dollars in debt Yeah, if

27:24

they were to designate him post June 1st

27:28

They would have a dead cap hit this year of six point

27:30

seven million dollars dead cap in 2026 of 18.4,

27:34

which is all of the void money left on the contract

27:38

At that point you might as well just let him play in 2025

27:40

and then take the 18 point four million

27:42

dollar Dead cap hit for all the void in money

27:44

that it would accelerate to 2026 But

27:47

then you remember You

27:51

can prevent the acceleration of all of

27:53

this money by giving a contract to

27:55

a player That extends the years

27:57

in which he's under contract to play for the team

28:01

So the risk for Miami is

28:03

what does Jalen Ramsey look like after 2025

28:05

as a 31 year old corner? Is

28:11

there a pathway to playing safety at a high level?

28:13

Is he still playing corner at a high level that

28:16

you would want to give him a new deal? Because

28:20

if you could give a new contract

28:22

and extension to Jalen

28:24

Ramsey, you

28:26

avoid the $18.5 million dead cap hit in

28:28

2026. But

28:31

that's with a player who would

28:33

be going into his age 32 season at

28:35

cornerback. He's just mindful of

28:37

that. Now I think Jalen

28:39

Ramsey is in a unique position to age

28:41

particularly gracefully because of how he

28:43

moved around when he was with the Rams, how

28:46

he could play inside, how

28:48

he could potentially play deep and be a safety.

28:50

There was a baton argument in 2016 when Jalen

28:52

Ramsey came out as a corner of his safety.

28:56

So for a player like that, I think

28:58

he has a little bit more grace for an

29:00

appetite to maybe go into 2025 and say, look,

29:02

we're going to extend your contract so we don't have to

29:04

worry about this $18.5 million debt cap hit for voidy dollars.

29:09

And if you do it that way, you could reduce his cap hit for 2025.

29:14

His cap hit would probably be about the same for 2026 as what it

29:16

is now. But

29:18

the difference is he's under contract to play for you versus not.

29:23

So those are the ones you have

29:25

to be mindful of. When

29:28

you get the big money acceleration up

29:30

into one year, that can be a really bumpy

29:33

ride, especially for 2026 when you're

29:35

considering, okay, we're talking about extending

29:37

the quarterback. And that's around the peak

29:39

of the Tyree Kill contract and the

29:41

Bradley Chubb contract and kind

29:44

of hitting their big money windows. Are you going to extend

29:46

those players? Are you going to move on from those players

29:49

before that? You

29:51

just want to make sure you're

29:53

cycling your contracts appropriately to

29:55

avoid a log jam

29:58

of too much dollars. getting

30:00

clogged up for the cap at

30:02

once into players that are no longer with your team. If

30:05

you're going to do that, you might as well do what the

30:07

Rams did. Right. And the whole point of how Miami is

30:10

tackled this off season by not recommitting to Robert

30:12

Hunt and not recommitting to Christian Wilkins was

30:15

to have that recalibration so that

30:18

you could try to contain maintain

30:20

your competitiveness with cap flexibility

30:23

without having too much of the money backlogged

30:28

at once. So

30:30

that's kind of the risk.

30:33

The reward, if you're willing to

30:36

go here, and I said

30:38

this earlier this week, this

30:41

is now a thing. Whether

30:43

you like it or not, and

30:45

there's some, I know a lot of people have

30:47

a fundamental issue with automatically

30:49

signing yourself up for dead money on

30:52

contracts for the players not with the

30:54

team. And I get it. Now, the nice thing

30:56

about void

30:59

years is you make the

31:01

decision whether or not the player is going to remain on your team

31:03

or not. Now, you're taking

31:05

a bigger leap at the front end of the contract

31:08

by signing yourself up for those void dollars and hoping

31:10

that the player that plays at a level that's going

31:12

to warrant him continuing to be on the roster for

31:14

you to then sign him to a new contract. But

31:19

this is it's undeniable. It's happening.

31:23

And we pointed out the Philadelphia Eagles

31:26

as one team in particular who

31:29

stand out who are doing a lot of

31:31

this. They are

31:34

on the front end of

31:36

being overly competitive on

31:40

an annual basis right now. And the way that

31:42

they have maintained that is because of how they

31:44

have chosen to manage

31:46

their salary cap, to keep a

31:49

competitive roster, keep players they

31:51

might not otherwise, and

31:53

just stay ahead of the accelerating rate of

31:55

the value of the dollar for NFL salary

31:58

cap perspective. I could pay for that. a

32:00

dollar right now and I can give you the whole

32:02

dollar. But if I pay you a dollar

32:04

now and I say, I want to pay the bill two years

32:06

from now, when next year the dollar is

32:08

going to be worth a dollar and 20 and the year after that

32:10

a dollar is going to be worth a dollar 40, me

32:13

paying one

32:15

third of a dollar from two years ago

32:17

when the dollar is now worth 40% more,

32:19

that's economics, right? And I know

32:22

Chris Kaufman from 3 Yards for Carry has

32:24

talked about it's there's no interest on debt

32:26

in the NFL and it's a

32:28

great point. Shout out Chris. There's

32:34

no the

32:36

rate of inflation, the value of the

32:38

dollar from a salary cap perspective versus

32:41

not getting charged interest at all is

32:45

a very favorable landscape to operating

32:47

within debt and accepting debt

32:49

as a normal portion of

32:52

how you compete. There's a

32:54

ton of teams that have started this

32:56

process including the Cleveland Browns

32:59

or another team. Their three-year cash spend is higher

33:01

than anybody in the league the last three years

33:04

and they just gave Jerry Judy a crazy

33:06

contract extension. They're void dollars.

33:09

Deshaun Watson, they restructured his contract. He's got nine

33:11

million dollars in void money for 2027. That was

33:14

a fully guaranteed contract which is another insane thing

33:16

to do. Amari

33:19

Cooper, 2025, seven and a half. David

33:23

and Joku, 2026, 14 million dollars. They

33:27

restructured Jedrick Wills' fifth year option this year and put void money

33:29

on the back end of that to the tune of 11.8 million

33:31

dollars. Petonio's got 12 and a half in 2026. Wyatt Teller's got

33:33

12 in

33:38

2026. Miles Garrett's got 37.6 million dollars in void money in 2027. Adbo

33:47

Okoranku's got 7.35 million in 2026. Dalvin Tomlinson's got

33:49

5 in 2027. Zadaria

33:52

Smith's got 15.8 in 2026. got

34:00

17 in 2027. So again,

34:04

other teams are doing this at a much more

34:06

aggressive rate than Miami, and I'm not proposing that

34:08

the Dolphins do it at that aggressive of a

34:11

rate because at that point the end

34:13

of that road is going to be very ugly. But

34:17

to do it selectively and

34:19

to still be early, the Dolphins

34:21

can still selectively

34:24

choose exit

34:27

ramps versus retaining

34:29

players and extending players because they continue

34:32

to be assets valuable to the team.

34:36

Some of these dollar amounts for other teams, they're

34:38

using it, right? So if you

34:40

just objectively say, I got a fundamental issue with

34:43

void years, we're not going to do it at

34:45

all, you're putting yourself at a significant year

34:48

over year competitive

34:51

disadvantage because other

34:53

teams are willing to use the tool. You

34:56

don't have to use the tool to the same

34:58

intensity, but if you don't

35:00

use it at all, other teams

35:02

are going to have more flexibility to field

35:04

more competitive talented rosters than you on

35:08

an annual basis, whether

35:10

you like it or not. And

35:12

then at some point you're either going to have a breakthrough and

35:14

you're going to have a 10 year leash because you had the

35:16

breakthrough everybody wanted you to have or you're

35:18

going to be out on your rear end. There's

35:21

going to be probably coaching changes and football regime

35:23

changes, which are going to spur scheme changes, which

35:25

are going to spur resetting of

35:27

the deck anyway and recalibrating your roster by

35:29

going out, identifying a select handful of cornerstone

35:31

players and building around them and flushing a

35:33

ton of that out of the system. Anyway,

35:36

it's the circle of life in the NFL.

35:42

So that's what years and that's why they

35:44

matter and that's why you care. And

35:46

that's why the dolphins are more

35:48

than just dipping their toe in the pond at this

35:51

stage of the game. Kyle

35:53

Crabs, I hope you guys enjoyed this episode of lockdown.

35:55

Dolphins. It is your team every day. Fins

35:57

up, make it a great rest of your day. Make it a great day.

35:59

a great weekend. I'll be back to talk to

36:01

you all again on Monday. Is

36:08

your team eliminated from the playoffs and in

36:10

need of reinforcements? Maybe it's time

36:12

for a rebuild or maybe they're just a

36:14

player or two away from taking home the

36:16

Lombardi Trophy. Either way,

36:18

join Keith Sanchez and Damien

36:21

Parsons for Walkgrass Monday on

36:23

the Walkdown NFL Grass Podcast.

36:26

I'll tell you which college football star and your team

36:28

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36:32

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36:34

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36:37

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36:39

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