Zach Sieler still has two years left on the contract extension he signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2023, but the defensive lineman has clearly outplayed that deal. After he was voted MVP of the Dolphins at the end of the 2024 season, the defensive lineman could be in line for another bump in pay that keeps him in Miami for the foreseeable future.
So will Sieler be a full participant at training camp when veterans report Tuesday? His agent Drew Rosenhaus isn’t making any promises.
While the Dolphins don’t have much salary cap space to work with — less than $2 million, according to Over The Cap — an extension for Sieler could actually be mutually beneficial. Not only would Miami secure a defensive leader for more years in the future, the team could also work to lower Sieler’s cap hit for the 2025 season.
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After counting just $3.36 million and $6.31 million against the Dolphins’ 2023 and 2024 salary caps, respectively, Sieler is due to count $12.45 million in 2025 and $11.5 million in 2026. An extension could potentially lower those 2025 and 2026 numbers by upwards of $5 million each year.
On the field, Sieler has been an impactful cornerstone up front with exactly 10 sacks in each of the last two seasons. He’s the first Dolphins player to reach double-digit sacks in consecutive seasons since Cameron Wake did so nearly a decade ago. The 300-pound lineman is also among Miami’s best run defenders, finishing last season with a career-best 13 tackles for loss.
Last year, no Dolphins player was absent from training camp due to contract demands, although quarterback Tua Tagovailoa staged a “hold in” with limited reps through the first few days of practices. But after just a few days of camp, Tagovailoa received a record-breaking deal from the Dolphins.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Will Zach Sieler hold out from Dolphins training camp?