Miami Dolphins Send Matt Roth Packing
By Brian Miller
Today the Miami Dolphins pulled off a shocking surprise. They released veteran LB Matt Roth. The team has yet to explain why but Roth had been at the center of a mystery injury that began the eve of training camp. He was placed on the non-football injury list and was activated a few weeks ago. In his 4 games he has done little to stand out but the fact that the Dolphins had enough will send a clear message to current and future players. These Dolphins don’t play games.
This core of Miami Dolphins managers and coaches started last season by waiving Zach Thomas, then trading Jason Taylor after weeks of speculation, they got rid of poor performing players including their own million dollar mistake Ernest Wilford. Two weeks ago, head coach Tony Sparano de-activated starting OLB Joey Porter. Now, Matt Roth. They definitely are not playing games.
Roth was a 2nd round pick by former HC Nick Saban in his first season with the Dolphins and the selection actually came from a trade that sent CB Patrick Surtain to the Kansas City Chiefs. Roth was in his final year of his contract and there was much ado that his “injury” was a ploy to get a longer deal. No worries about that now. Roth will likely be picked up off waivers.
In other news, the Dolphins added 4 year veteran Evan Oglesby to the 53 man roster who had spent the majority of his 4 years with Baltimore with a stint in Dallas. The Phins worked him out on Monday and added him as a back-up to the secondary on Tuesday. They waived recently signed safety Nate Ness to make room. They still have one roster spot left on the active 53 heading into Sunday’s game against Buffalo.
If you were looking forward to that Sunday night lights showdown against the Patriots, you won’t have to wait as long as the NFL decided to “flex” their schedule giving NBC the Arizona vs. Minnessotta game and moving Miami back to the 1:00 PM kick-off spot instead.
Jason Ferguson’s trip to the IR has left the team with their one vacancy and the team is in a bit of a conundrum given the uncertainty of Jake Grove’s ankle injury. The Phins have reportedly worked on players on both sides of the line beforing signing d
efensive lineman Ikaika Alama-Francis, who was a 2007 second-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions.