It’s perhaps the best proof that the Dolphins plan to spend their cap money on new players.
The five-year, $30.775 million deal signed last week by receiver Brian Hartline has a 2013 cap number of only $2.115 million, per a source with knowledge of the contract.
That cap number comes from 20 percent of a $7 million signing bonus and a $715,000 base salary, which is fully guaranteed.
Next year, the cap number moves to $6.21 million, via a fully-guaranteed base salary of $4.785 million and a $25,000 workout bonus.
The cap numbers increase in 2015, with figures of $7.35 million, $7.55 million, and $7.55 million respectively over the final three years of the deal. At some point in those final three years, the Dolphins could decide not to pay Hartline base salary of $5.9 million, $6.1 million, and $6.1 million, respectively.
For now, though, the Dolphins have plenty of flexibility, even after inking one of their current guys to a deal worth more than $30 million.