Nate Garner Back On Miami 53

If you listened to my Finsradio.net show last night, and you still can be going to the site and clicking the link to the archive, you would have heard my prediction that offensive lineman  by Sunday’s game.  Today, the Miami Dolphins did just that.  Garner had been released on the final cuts Saturday and then signed to the practice squad in an effort to hide TE’s John Nalbone and Joey Haynos.

I have often been asked why it takes so long on those final days of cuts for teams to report their releases.  Then, why teams play games with moving players from their final 53 to IR and PS to 53 and so on.  It’s a mess.  Take the case of Garner.  He is released, then Martin is put on IR, then the Phins claim a TE from Baltimore, then cut him, then sign Garner from the PS.  Why not just put Martin on IR and keep Garner and save yourself the misery and trouble?  Right?  One would think.

The late annoucements of the cuts are simple.  6PM is the deadline to announce your cuts but you only have to have them into the league office where they announce them.  The Steelers this year made their cuts but held onto the list until the last minute, why?  Simple, it kept teams from poaching their cuts and allowed them the first opportunity to sign them to their PS.

Many teams used that tactic this year, including the Dolphins.  The reasoning is that other teams would have already placed waiver claims for released players and thus the Dolphins own players by being announced later wouldn’t be primary targets.  In the case of Nate Garner it worked.  There were some Olineman that were cut and other teams had picked them up and Garner, a young promising talent, slipped through to Sunday where he was signed to the Phins practice squad.

In the case of Nalbone and Joey Haynos the Phins felt that releasing one of them would expose that player to the waiver wire and both are young and have some nice potential.  The Ravens release of their 5th round pick who is a TE would have left a spot for them, so they may have taken a shot at one of the two.  The Phins still were lucky not to have Garner snapped up.

The Phins didn’t waste much time bringing in another TE to fill the void left by David Martin who they held on to long enough to put him on IR.  A move that some question.  However, with Fasano being in a contract year and Martin being in a contract year, the Phins have basically lowered his value, what little may have been there to begin with.

With Garner back on the 53, the Phins added another TE late last night.  Kory Sperry out of  Colorado State University.  Perry won’t be competing for a 53 spot for awhile and according to Omar Kelly is more of an “H” back than a TE.  All in all, the Phins don’t play their cards in plain view and the hours leading up to final cuts was no exception.  Atlanta is now a mere 4 days away and still the Dolphins are playing with their roster.  Did you expect anything less?  Of course you didn’t.