The Miami Dolphins are heading into free agency with a $16 million deficit on their cap space, according to overthecap.com. 

While new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan has his work cut out for him, that number can dramatically lessen with cuts, contract restructures, extensions, and more.

Considering the huge contract decision looming for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins are unlikely to be active in free agency. However, there are a multitude of players who must decide to stay as part of their grand rebuild.

That said, here is a look at some of the top pending free agents for the Dolphins. 

In terms of pending free agents that the Dolphins should be considering bringing back is cornerback Rasul Douglas. Apart from being a veteran voice for the younger defenders on the team, Douglas had a bounce-back season in 2025.

Douglas was ranked 19th out of 114 qualified cornerbacks on PFF with an overall grade of 73.5. His 82.0 pass rush grade is ranked ninth.

Douglas also secured two interceptions, 13 passes defended, one forced fumble, one sack, and 62 total tackles. He also posted a 54.5 completion percentage and 73.0 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks, while giving up three touchdowns.

Per Spotrac, Douglas could be looking at a one-year, $4 million deal. Despite being nearly 32, the corner has a lot left in the tank and should be the veteran presence the Dolphins highly consider bringing back.

The Dolphins could be in a similar situation with Jack Jones. Like Douglas, he was brought in to help the patchwork secondary when Kader Kohou, Jack Jones, and Artie Burns went down.

Jones has a far weaker overall grade on PFF with 60.2 and is ranked 67th. His 84.9 pass rush grade is ranked seventh, and his 77.7 run defense grade is ranked 14th. 

While Jones is solid in pass rush and run defense situations, his coverage is not as good. He gave up a 68.3 completion percentage and 119.3 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks, while giving up six touchdowns.

Spotrac has Jones earning a one-year, $5 million deal, but that might be one the Dolphins perhaps alter with incentives, if they choose to bring him back.

Kicker Riley Patterson made good of his chance to start over the injured Jason Sanders. While Sanders suffered from a hip injury, Patterson came in hot, securing a 93.1 kicking accuracy percentage. 

Patterson was 11-for-11 on kicks at the 40-49 yard mark, and 3-for-4 on kicks that were 50 yards or more. His longest was 54 yards.

Patterson broke Sanders's accuracy record of 92.3 percent set in 2020, and is now the leader for the Dolphins organization. With Spotrac predicting a two-year contract of about $5.2 million, Miami needs to heavily consider this. 

The Dolphins heavily relied on Daniel Brunskill for their jumbo packages, which led to De'Von Achane having a Pro Bowl season of 1,350 yards on the ground and a league-leading 5.7 yards per carry. 

The usage of Brunskill might have been of Mike McDaniel's design, but Bobby Slowik is set to run something similar. If Slowik mimics the run game style for Achane in 2026, Brunskill should be brought back.

At 32 years old and with low usage, he could be given a deal of around nearly $3 million. It is a low price to pay to see if Achane can have repeat success in 2026.

Darren Waller might be one of the toughest to determine what to do with. He came out of retirement in a very shocking move, but was injured to start and end his return to the NFL.

Waller showed plenty of flashes of brilliance, picking up four touchdowns in his first three games back. After some garbage time scores in Week 16, he ended the season with 283 yards and six touchdowns.

Waller admitted that he had some injury issues due to not being able to train properly, but would get back to training should his desire to play again remain. Now, whether that is for the Dolphins remains to be seen.

Spotrac has Waller earning a one-year, $3.2 million deal, which may be a bit high depending on his production in 2025. Should he want to return, and the Dolphins can offer him something of an incentive-laden one-year deal, that could work out for both sides.