Miami Herald Logo

Miami Dolphins could have major roster turnover before season starts | Miami Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Site Information
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Herald Store
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    • Sections
    • News
    • South Florida
    • Miami-Dade
    • Broward
    • Florida Keys
    • Florida
    • Politics
    • Weird News
    • Weather
    • National & World
    • Colombia
    • National
    • World
    • Americas
    • Cuba
    • Guantánamo
    • Haiti
    • Venezuela
    • Local Issues
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • In Depth
    • Issues & Ideas
    • Traffic
    • Sections
    • Sports
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Pro & College
    • Miami Dolphins
    • Miami Heat
    • Miami Marlins
    • Florida Panthers
    • College Sports
    • University of Miami
    • Florida International
    • University of Florida
    • Florida State University
    • More Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Auto Racing
    • Fighting
    • Golf
    • Horse Racing
    • Outdoors
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Youth Sports
    • Other Sports
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • The Florida Influencer Series
    • Sections
    • Business
    • Business Monday
    • Banking
    • International Business
    • National Business
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate News
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Tourism & Cruises
    • Workplace
    • Business Plan Challenge
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Cindy Krischer Goodman
    • The Starting Gate
    • Work/Life Balancing Act
    • Movers
    • Sections
    • Living
    • Advice
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Pets
    • Recipes
    • Travel
    • Wine
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Dave Barry
    • Ana Veciana-Suarez
    • Flashback Miami
    • More Living
    • LGBTQ South Florida
    • Palette Magazine
    • Indulge Magazine
    • South Florida Album
    • Broward Album
    • Sections
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music & Nightlife
    • People
    • Performing Arts
    • Restaurants
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Jose Lambiet
    • Lesley Abravanel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Miami.com
    • Contests & Promotions
    • Sections
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Op-Ed
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Jim Morin
    • Letters to the Editor
    • From Our Inbox
    • Speak Up
    • Submit a Letter
    • Meet the Editorial Board
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Blog Directory
    • Columnist Directory
    • Andres Oppenheimer
    • Carl Hiaasen
    • Leonard Pitts Jr.
    • Fabiola Santiago
    • Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Place an Obituary

    • Place an ad
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Apartments
    • Auctions/Sales
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Employment
    • Garage Sales
    • Legals
    • Merchandise
    • Obituaries
    • Pets
    • Public Notices
    • Real Estate
    • Services
  • Public Notices
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Real Estate
  • Mobile & Apps

  • el Nuevo Herald
  • Miami.com
  • Indulge

Latest News

Miami Dolphins could have major roster turnover before season starts

BY ADAM H. BEASLEY

    ORDER REPRINT →

August 29, 2012 12:00 AM

More than a few Dolphins players privately admit that they have grown either unhappy with or confused by the team’s general direction over the past month.

Their growing frustration bubbled over when well-liked veterans Chad Johnson and Vontae Davis were shown the door.

Good news for any locker room malcontents: You might soon get your own change of scenery.

With final cut-downs due Friday and the team open to a trade, the Dolphins’ roster will likely look markedly different on opening day than what that takes the field in the team’s preseason finale Wednesday at Dallas (8:30 p.m., CBS).

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Of the 53 players who will make up Miami’s Week 1 roster, a league source estimates as many as 10 are currently free agents or the property of another franchise. That means nearly 20 percent of the team could be brand new come Monday.

“Nobody’s job is safe at all,” Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll said.

Added tight end Charles Clay: “You have to have that mentality, especially with a whole new coaching staff. Everybody’s auditioning.”

A good many, it seems, are botching that tryout.

The Dolphins have been largely not competitive in the team’s first three exhibition games — all losses. First-year coach Joe Philbin and his staff are particularly unhappy with the bottom fifth of the projected roster, sources said.

It’s no secret which positions are the biggest underachievers: the Dolphins receivers, tight ends and certain offensive linemen.

One source familiar with the franchise’s decision-making expects to see some “crazy things” transpire the next few weeks.

With rookie Ryan Tannehill locked in as their starting quarterback — he’s expected to play some, but not a ton Wednesday night — the Dolphins are desperate to get him some help. They enter Wednesday with 10 receivers on the roster, but aside from Davone Bess and maybe Brian Hartline (if he can get healthy), the rest might be just one bad drop away from unemployment.

The team will most certainly address the receiver position in some way over the next few days, with the waiver-wire addition the most likely route. Several notable veterans — including offensive weapons Jabar Gaffney, Donte’ Stallworth and Chris Cooley — already have been cut, with more sure to shake free.

Tryouts expected

League sources expect the team’s Davie training complex to be a revolving door for tryouts this weekend.

Furthermore, general manager Jeff Ireland told The Miami Herald this week that he made the Davis trade, at least in part, to give the organization more ammunition to trade for a dependable pass-catcher.

Receiver-rich Green Bay is the most logical place to look, given Philbin’s ties to the club; backup James Jones’ name has surfaced most often.

And despite management’s insistence that this is no rebuilding year, independent observers agree that this team is looking to the future.

No doubt, that doesn’t sit well with veterans who are tired of losing and are closer to the end of their careers than the beginning. Still, Philbin appears undeterred. Even with Ireland presumably on the hot seat after three disappointing seasons, Philbin has been given the latitude to ship off anyone not on board with his no-nonsense approach.

“I think you have to have any idea for what you’re looking for in terms of a vision for the team,” he said.

“You know there are some guys that aren’t going to fit. That doesn’t mean they’re bad guys or they’re not good players. But when you’ve been doing it for a while, you get a sense of the people that you feel like you can work with, you can connect with, guys you can help reach their potential.”

Those Philbin believes he can’t reach — such as Johnson, Davis or Brandon Marshall — already have been given or will soon get their walking papers.

And for players such as Carroll, Clay and receiver Roberto Wallace, all they can do between now and Friday’s cuts is produce — and hope they fit in the team’s long-term plans.

“If I can go out there and dominate [Wednesday],” said Wallace, an inconsistent player firmly on the bubble, “there’s no question I can lock down a job.”

NOTE

A fourth consecutive loss Wednesday would be discouraging, but not fatal, as 21 teams have gone winless during the preseason in the past decade. but in the regular season that followed, those clubs were a combined 159-177 — an average of 7.6 wins per season.

Related stories from Miami Herald

latest-news

Hard knocks: The healing of Dolphins coach Joe Philbin

August 29, 2012 12:00 AM

sports

Little hope seen for 2012 season at Miami Dolphins Kickoff Luncheon

August 29, 2012 12:00 AM

HOMEPAGE

Sports Buzz | Criticisms of Vontae Davis trade

August 28, 2012 11:55 PM

latest-news

Latest ‘Hard Knocks’ looks at Vontae Davis deal

August 28, 2012 12:00 AM

HOMEPAGE

Miami Dolphins Blog | Dolphins in Depth

January 07, 2012 11:41 AM

HOMEPAGE

Get your Miami Dolphins iPhone app

July 28, 2011 07:56 PM

  Comments  

Videos

Ron DeSantis announces plan to create “equal opportunity scholarships”

Miami Marlins have ‘exciting’ ideas for Sergio Romo

View More Video

Trending Stories

Haiti is once again on edge, and humanitarian aid groups debate whether to go or cancel

February 14, 2019 07:24 PM

He was robbed while mowing a lawn. He talked. Then 40 bullets were fired into his house

February 14, 2019 08:45 AM

Here’s Jimmy Johnson’s multi-step guide as the Dolphins begin their rebuilding program

February 14, 2019 03:05 PM

Hearts are heavy, attendance is light at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

February 14, 2019 09:05 AM

PGA Tour star was wrong to stiff caddie, but vilification of Matt Kuchar is wrong, too

February 14, 2019 01:48 PM

Read Next

Kidnap victim, mobile home, retail game-changer: The many lives of a shopping cart

South Florida

Kidnap victim, mobile home, retail game-changer: The many lives of a shopping cart

By Linda Robertson

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 15, 2019 09:41 AM

Whether from Publix, Winn-Dixie, Trader Joe’s or El Presidente supermarkets, stray shopping carts are everywhere you look in Miami, FL. It’s changed retail, become art and is even an online shopping symbol.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LATEST NEWS

Kaepernick, NFL reach collusion settlement, but stain on league stays until he’s signed

Greg Cote

Kaepernick, NFL reach collusion settlement, but stain on league stays until he’s signed

February 15, 2019 04:25 PM
It’s a spring of uncertainty as the Marlins continue their rebuild. This is what’s next

Miami Marlins

It’s a spring of uncertainty as the Marlins continue their rebuild. This is what’s next

February 15, 2019 12:26 PM
Gunman kills 5 people, wounds 5 police at Illinois business

National

Gunman kills 5 people, wounds 5 police at Illinois business

February 15, 2019 09:05 PM
Federal judge dissolves homeless protections from police harassment in Miami

Miami-Dade County

Federal judge dissolves homeless protections from police harassment in Miami

February 15, 2019 03:59 PM
Michael Schwartz created this Brickell Italian restaurant — but it’s not his anymore

Food

Michael Schwartz created this Brickell Italian restaurant — but it’s not his anymore

February 15, 2019 06:39 PM
U.S. looks to send food aid to Haiti as violence brews humanitarian crisis

Haiti

U.S. looks to send food aid to Haiti as violence brews humanitarian crisis

February 15, 2019 06:27 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Miami Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Public Insight Network
  • Reader Panel
Advertising
  • Place a Classified
  • Media Kit
  • Commercial Printing
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story