Miami Dolphins Are Now At 53 But For How Long?
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins have made the tough decisions and are now at the league mandated final 53 man roster. No real surprises followed today’s cuts but keep in mind this is far from over. The team will work out a few players over the weekend and will begin scouring the waiver wire for players they think can help the squad. Tomorrow they will start adding to the practice squad after their players clear waivers.
So what have we learned about this years squad under new GM Dennis Hickey? Not much yet but it looks pretty good on the surface. Here is a look at all of the cuts and what the Dolphins are left with, prefaced of course with the notion that things will change between now and Monday.
The Dolphins are carrying four running backs into Sunday with Orleans Darkwa and Damien Williams both making the roster behind Knowshon Moreno and Lamar Miller.
The Dolphins will carry six wide-receivers with Damian Williams and Rishard Matthews making the teams 53 to go along with Brandon Gibson, Mike Wallace, Jarvis Landry, and Brian Hartline.
At tight-end the Dolphins have opted to keep three for now. The team will be working out tight-ends this weekend. Un-drafted free agent Gator Hoskins has made the roster along with Charles Clay and Dion Sims.
The offensive line took a few hits as the team has opted to release David Arkin, Sam Brenner, Tony Hills, and Evan Finkenberg. The team will keep center Mike Pouncey on the 53 man roster and not put him on the PUP list which means he will be able to play if healthy in the first month of the season. Pouncey is targeting week four against Oakland for his return. The Dolphins will have Samson Satele and Nate Garner as their centers until that time. At the tackle position Jason Fox will serve as the primary back-up while Shelley Smith and Billy Turner will be the primary back-ups.
The Dolphins will take a long look at the free agent offensive lineman.
Miami will also carry two quarterbacks into the season but are hoping to add Seth Lobato to the practice squad which is now ten players deep.
Defensively the Dolphins made a few changes but none unexpected. Kamal Johnson has been placed on IR but un-drafted rookie Anthony “the freak” Johnson has made the teams initial 53. The Dolphins also are keeping DE 7th round pick Terrence Fede. The Dolphins will enter Sunday with four upfront defensive lineman and four defensive ends not including Dion Jordan. It’s a small change from years past where the Dolphins normally opted to keep another DE or DT on the roster but again things can change.
Miami will keep eight linebackers as only Andrew Wilson was released today. Congratulations to Chris McCain….for now.
The team has five cornerbacks after they released Kevin Fogg and five safeties after releasing Jordan Kovacs.
Here is the complete list of cuts and moves thus far heading into Sunday.
Of all today’s releases only Matt Hazel was drafted by Dennis Hickey. The 6th round wide-out is the only cut from this years draft class but he will be a candidate for the teams practice squad. The two biggest names by far were Daniel Thomas and Marcus Thigpen. The release of Thomas only continues the drought of successful 2nd round draft picks for the Dolphins that have spanned the better part of the last decade.
Released:
Sam Brenner – OL
David Arkin -OL
Tony Hills – OL
Evan Finkenberg -OL
Evan Wilson – TE
Matt Hazel – WR
Kevin Cone – WR
Daniel Thomas – RB
Marcus Thigpen – RB/WR/KR/PR
Seth Labato – QB
Andrew Wilson – LB
Jordan Kovacs – Safety
Garrison Smith – DE
Tevin Mims – DE
D’Aundre Reed – DE
Isaako Aaitui – DT
Jake Rodgers – K
Kamal Johnson – IR