The Dolphins still need to accomplish the most difficult part of rebuilding: procuring really good players, starting with a quarterback.
But they have made great progress on the initial stage: Giving themselves salary cap flexibility, which was further achieved with Friday’s trade of Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans.
From a pure cash standpoint, the Dolphins will pay $5 million of the $7 million in guaranteed money that the Titans will pay him in 2019. That $5 million goes on the Dolphins’ cap.
But that’s less than the nonguaranteed $39 million he would have been owed, combined, during the next two seasons had he remained a Dolphins.