Dolphins to release CB Byron Jones in cap-saving move after missing season with injury
When Dolphins general manager Chris Grier spoke last week at the NFL Scouting Combine about Byron Jones’ standing with the team, he did not commit to the veteran cornerback being in Miami for the 2023 season.
But the organization has reached a resolution. The Dolphins informed Jones that he is being released on March 15 and designated as a post-June 1 cut, league sources confirmed to the Miami Herald. The move gives Jones the opportunity to be a free agent and Miami much-needed cap relief, albeit in a few months.
Jones, 30, did not play in 2022 after undergoing offseason surgery on his leg last March. On Feb. 25, Jones said in a pair of tweets that he “can’t run or jump because of my injuries sustained playing this game.”
At the Dolphins’ end-of-season news conference, Grier said Jones “did everything he could to try and play so no qualms with that at all.” But when he spoke to reporters in January and then at the combine last week, he was noncommittal on Jones returning.
“You have to look at every option,” Grier said at the combine in Indianapolis. “You always have to look at all different scenarios and try to plan for best-case and worst-case scenarios. Right now, we’re not making any assumptions on anything and just letting him continue to attack his rehab and see what happens.”
Jones, who restructured his contract last offseason, was set to have an $18 million cap hit in 2023, the fourth-largest on the team. The Dolphins will save $13.6 million by releasing Jones, but that cap relief will not be available until after June 1. A pre-June 1 release would have given the Dolphins about $3.5 million in immediate cap space but would have come with a dead cap charge of $14.8 million.
In the 2020 offseason, the Dolphins signed Jones to a five-year, $82.5 million deal, including $57 million guaranteed, that at the time made him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback. With former head coach Brian Flores shaping a blitz-heavy, man-to-man defense, the Dolphins were hoping to have one of the best cornerback tandems in the league with Jones and Xavien Howard. But Jones will end his time in Miami playing in 30 of a possible 50 games and recording 95 tackles, two interceptions and 14 pass deflections.
Miami will need to add depth, and possibly another starter, at cornerback once free agency opens at 4 p.m. on March 15. The Dolphins are set to bring back Howard and Kader Kohou, who both started 15 games in 2022. Nik Needham is a pending unrestricted free agent and is rehabbing from a torn Achilles he sustained in Week 6. Keion Crossen, Noah Igbinoghene and Trill Williams are also under contract for the 2023 season but Williams is rehabbing from a torn ACL he sustained in last year’s preseason opener.
The Dolphins are currently $16 million over the cap after releasing tight end Cethan Carter and placing a tender on exclusive rights free agent Elijah Campbell later Tuesday. Miami will need to free room ahead of the start of free agency next Wednesday afternoon. The Dolphins can clear space by restructuring the contracts of players such as wide receiver Tyreek Hill and outside linebacker Bradley Chubb, among others.
ESPN first reported the Dolphins would be releasing Jones.
This story was originally published March 7, 2023 at 2:39 PM.
