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With the “legal tampering period” set to open for business on March 9th, we are entering the 3-week period in which NFL teams tend to ‘clean up’ the roster in anticipation of free agency. Players — mostly veterans who have high salary cap hits, have suffered significant injuries and/or whose on-field performance has been poor or inconsistent — are released or waived, making it possible for any of the 31 other teams to add those players to their rosters. In some rare cases, players may even re-sign with the team that released them.
There’s a lot of chaff to sort through for NFL front offices in search of valuable players, and those players who do find a new home after being released as a “salary cap casualty” often (though not always) have to accept a pay reduction to stay in the league, sometimes making it difficult for fans to assess fair market value for such players.
Last year, the Commanders released veteran defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, freeing up $16.5m in cap space. Allen signed a 3-year, $51m free agent deal with the Vikings that was comparable in annual value to the one the Commanders had released him from. Now, a year later, Allen appears to be in a tenuous situation with his new team —a potential but uncertain cut candidate for the Vikings in the 2026 offseason due to a high $23.66 million cap hit. While his 2025 performance was underwhelming and cutting him with a post-June designation saves significant money, the team might retain him for veteran presence or restructure his contract.
A veteran who was forced to take an immediate financial haircut last year was Von Miller, who was cut by Buffalo and signed by the Commanders. Ahead of the ‘24 season, Miller signed a 4-year, $76.3m contract extension with the Bills with an average annual value of around $19m. A year later, he was released and ended up in Washington on a one-year deal worth about $6m with some upside incentives.
What’s special about this mid-February to mid-March time period is that players who are released in this time frame can enter into discussions with teams immediately and do not need to wait until the new league year (which happens at 4pm on March 11th this year) to sign a contract. What makes it so problematic is that signing these players feels a bit like picking through the neighbor’s trash. The players were cut for a reason, and there’s often a feeling that, if the player had genuine value, he would have been traded instead of released.
Still, certain players released in this time every year get signed by NFL teams in the hopes that they might be able to contribute. One relatively recent example of one team’s trash turning into another teams treasure (of sorts) is tight end Jonnu Smith, who finished the 2023 season with the Atlanta Falcons, who had acquired him via trade from the Patriots. In late February of 2024, the Falcons released Smith, freeing up $6.5m in cap space. The Dolphins swooped in and signed Smith to a contract on March 7th, nearly a full week ahead of the start of the 2024 league year. The Dolphins were rewarded with the most productive statistical season of Smith’s career; he caught 88 passes for 884 yards and 8 touchdowns — all career highs. Smith also made the 2024 Pro Bowl team.
That’s the value that teams are looking for when they sign players in this pre-free agency window.
The Dolphins kicked things off
There had been no players released in February until Monday, when the Dolphins kicked things off by cutting 4 players:
- WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
- DE Bradley Chubb
- OG James Daniels
- WR Tyreek Hill
There are some pretty high-profile names in that list!
The question is: Can other NFL teams find any value by pawing through the Dolphins’ trash?
Here’s a quick blurb about each player taken from articles published by our sister SB Nation site, the Phinsider:
WR Nick Westbrook-Ikinhe
Miami…released wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, according to Pelissero. The Dolphins signed Westbrook-Ikhine to a two-year contract last offseason, bringing him to Miami after five seasons with the Tennessee Titans. He caught just 11 passes for 89 yards with the Dolphins in 15 games played, including three starts.
DE Bradley Chubb
Chubb was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. He spent four seasons in Denver, establishing himself as one of the league’s top pass rushers. However, injuries plagued his time at Denver, starting only 41 games across 4 seasons.
In November of 2022, the Dolphins decided to take a chance on Chubb, and traded for his services. Unfortunately, though Chubb was productive when he was on the field, he was plagued by the same injuries that cut short his time in Denver. He missed the entirety of the 2024 season with a torn ACL, managing 22 sacks in 40 starts with the Dolphins.
[M]any teams (Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions) were interested in his services at the trade deadline this past season, but no deal materialized. Chubb will have a $31 million cap hit in 2026, so any team with championship aspirations and cap flexibility will likely be circling.
As it relates to the Dolphins in 2026 and beyond, Chubb’s departure is merely one domino in what promises to be a transformative offseason for the Dolphins. Miami will save $7.3M in cap space while taking on $23.8M in dead money by moving on from Chubb.
OG James Daniels
The Dolphins signed Daniels this offseason to a 3-year, $24 million contract. The former Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears guard had 84 career starts at LG, RG, and C before joining the Dolphins. However, he suffered a season-ending pectoral injury in Week 1 this season, and never returned to the field. It’s worth nothing that he was coming off an Achilles injury in the season prior, a likely factor in the Dolphins being able to afford a veteran guard like Daniels.
According to Spotrac, the Dolphins will save $114,000 in cap space by releasing Daniels before March 13. More significantly, they avoid a $3.48 million salary guarantee that would have become fully guaranteed on that date.
WR Tyreek Hill
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Dolphins are…releasing eight-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill. The 10-year veteran spent four years with the Dolphins following six seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. He caught 340 passes with the Dolphins, tallying 4,733 yards and 27 touchdowns. He led the league in receiving yards with 1,799 in 2023, also leading the league with 13 touchdown receptions that season.
His 2025 season was cut short, playing in just four games before a devastating knee injury ended his year. Against the New York Jets in Week 4, Hill was hit along the sideline, dislocating his knee. He also sustained multiple torn ligaments in the knee.
Hill was scheduled to account for $51.1 million against the Dolphins’ salary cap in 2025. The move creates $22.9 million in cap space for Miami, while moving $28.2 million into the “dead money” column – essentially money the team has to account for against the salary cap for a player who has been released or traded.
Discussion
- Would you be in favor of the Commanders signing any of these 4 players released by the Dolphins on Monday?
- If so, how much would you pay?
- Is there any other veteran player from any other team that you believe will be released before March 11th that you want to see Adam Peters sign to the Commanders roster?
As always, any comment is appreciated for the time and effort it takes to create and submit, but those that offer details about your reasoning or which add to a positive and interactive discussion of others’ ideas are especially prized.