The Miami Dolphins were quick to accept what the Tennessee Titans already knew: Offensive offense in the 1st round of 2020, Isaiah Wilson, isn’t quite ready to play football in the NFL. Thus, the Dolphins, who switched to Wilson at the start of the league’s calendar year last week, announced yesterday that Wilson had resigned from the team.
We have given up Isaiah Wilson.
– Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) March 20, 2021
But with the transaction made a few days ago, one has to wonder what kind of financial implications may remain in Wilson’s bet on the Dolphins. After all, rookie contracts feature significant amounts of guaranteed money during the first four years of hiring a player; therefore, hiring Miami on bail only to cut Wilson immediately after the deal would be a disastrous move.
Fortunately for the Dolphins, Wilson’s previous misconduct during the 2020 season nullified all of Wilson’s guaranteed money. Thus, the Dolphins were able to rest easy knowing that there will be no persistent implications of the team’s salary cap when they made the move.
In all, the Dolphins changed the draft picks for the seventh round 2021 and 2022 along with the Wilson exchange. But now that Wilson has been cut, the Dolphins ’cap will reflect as if it had never been in Miami – there will be no dead hat for 2021 or beyond. And Miami will recover all of Wilson’s projected salary for 2021 of $ 1.1 million.
The only persistent indication of Isaiah Wilson’s bet from Miami is that the team will have to wait 12 months for its selection for the seventh round: the Titans will continue to keep the Miami 2021 selection as a starting part of the agreement. A risk worth taking for the potential reward, but a risk that was not the same.