Miami Dolphins: 2013 Salary Cap Space Breakdown

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Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

According to NFL.com, the 2013 salary cap will be approximately $121 million. The Miami Dolphins will have approximately $50 million in cap space based on that number.

Miami has 34 signed players for 2013 and are currently slated to draft nine more in the 2013 NFL draft, including five in the first three rounds.

Should the Dolphins' general manager, Jeff Ireland, receive credit for setting Miami up with a grand opportunity to improve the team? Team owner Stephen Ross believes so and will allow Ireland to engineer this pivotal offseason.

Many Miami fans, however, feel that Ireland is the root of the Dolphins' failures over the past five years and should not be at the helm for the draft and the $50 million shopping spree.

I believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle and that 2013 is going to be anything but dull for Dolphin fans.

Let's take a look at the 2013 contracts, Miami's free agents and other items of interest.

Players Under Contract in 2013

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Here are the players under contract for 2013, according to Spotrac.com.

	Player	Position	2013 Cap Hit
1	Karlos Dansby	LB	7,975,000
2	Paul Soliai	DT	7,625,000
3	Richard Marshall	CB	5,766,667
4	Kevin Burnett	LB	5,700,000
5	Dimitri Patterson	CB	5,600,000
6	Richie Incognito	G	5,383,333
7	Cameron Wake	DE/LB	5,015,000
8	Davone Bess	WR	3,433,000
9	Dan Carpenter	K	3,012,500
10	Ryan Tannehill	QB	2,878,341
11	Mike Pouncey	C	2,525,371
12	Jared Odrick	DE	1,939,868
13	Koa Misi	LB	1,131,905
14	Brandon Fields	P	1,100,000
15	Jonathan Martin	OT	1,087,333
16	John Denney	LS	1,013,750
17	Jason Trusnik	LB	915,000
18	Daniel Thomas	RB	882,717
19	John Jerry	G	789,625
20	Olivier Vernon	DE	639,520
21	Michael Egnew	TE	627,239
22	Nolan Carroll	CB	622,937
23	Reshad Jones	S	615,075
24	Lamar Miller	RB	601,500
25	Charles Clay	TE	583,250
26	Jimmy Wilson	CB/S	566,475
27	Kheeston Randall	DT	495,612
28	Rishard Matthews	WR	492,848
29	Derrick Shelby	DE	480,000
30	Kyle Miller	TE	480,000
31	Josh Samuda	C	480,000
32	Jorvorskie Lane	FB	480,000
33	Armon Binns	WR	480,000
34	Will Yeatman	T	465,000

The total salary for the 34 signed players is $71,883,866.

Dimitri Patterson

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If you paid close attention to the last slide, you may have noticed that Dimitri Patterson owns the fifth-highest 2013 salary on the team at $5,600,000.

When Miami put in a waiver claim for Patterson a week ago, they took on the three-year, $16 million contract he had signed with the Cleveland Browns.

Ireland is giving Patterson an audition. The Dolphins will not owe Patterson a cent of his 2013 money, if he is not on the roster for the first regular season game. In all likelihood, Patterson will have to restructure his contract if he wants to be a Dolphin in 2013.

The 29-year-old Patterson is in his seventh NFL season and has played for the Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, in addition to the Browns. He has made five career interceptions.

Dead Money

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Jeff Ireland has done well when it comes to minimizing dead money, which is guaranteed money paid to players that have been cut. According to Spotrac, only three ex-Dolphins are owed dead money in 2013.

Dead Money
Josh Kaddu	140,055
B.J. Cunningham	79,650
Clyde Gates	249,500

In 2013, the Miami Dolphins will have only $469,205 in dead money.

About $50 Million in Cap Space

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Currently, the Miami Dolphins have $71,888,071 tied up in 2013. NFL.com claims that the 2013 cap will be around $121 million. That gives Miami about $50 million to play with. In actuality, the number may be closer to $55 million, if Dimitri Patterson is cut.

What will Jeff Ireland do with that money?

There are Dolphins to re-sign as well as Pro Bowl free agents to lure.

Free Agent Miami Dolphins

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The following current Miami Dolphins will be free agents at the end of this season:

Jake Long
Reggie Bush
Brian Hartline
Randy Starks
Sean Smith
Anthony Fasano
Tony McDaniel
Matt Moore
Nate Garner
Chris Clemons
Marlon Moore
Tyrone Culver
Bryan McCann
Patrick Brown
Jonathon Amaya
Jeron Mastrud
Austin Spitler
R.J. Stanford
Jonathan Freeny
Pat Devlin
Marcus Thigpen

The Dolphins will likely lose Matt Moore; some team is bound to allow him to compete for a starting job and pay him accordingly.

Ireland would love to have Long, Bush, Hartline, Starks, Smith, and Fasano back, as long as their price tag is reasonable.

In Conclusion

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The 2013 offseason will be franchise-altering for the Miami Dolphins. For Miami fans, there's a lot to be optimistic about in 2013. Ryan Tannehill looks like a franchise quarterback, and the Dolphins will be contenders next year, no matter what you may think of Jeff Ireland.

The question is how much improvement they'll make.

That responsibility lies completely on Ireland's shoulders.

Who do you think the Dolphins should re-sign? Chase in free agency?

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