More on Dolphins’ position switch, a player on the rise, the Washington decision
A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Friday:
▪ There’s no risk in taking a bottom-of-the-roster waiver claim and experimenting with him at a new position.
So the Dolphins’ recent decision to claim former Packers defensive lineman James Ester and move him to guard comes with no downside. Either he becomes a splendid summer surprise or absolutely nothing is lost.
Per a source, the Dolphins made the move because several former Packers coaches (including Jeff Hafley) saw him practice some at guard on the Packers’ practice squad and believed his power, movement skills, strength and athleticism could give him a chance to succeed at guard.
General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, naturally, was on board as well.
The Packers liked Ester enough to keep him on their practice squad as a defensive lineman for two years but not quite enough to put him on the 53-man roster. He hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game in his two years in the league.
Ester had 20 tackles for loss and 121 tackles in 49 career games at Northern Illinois.
At 6-3 and 289 pounds, Ester is lighter than nearly all NFL guards. But there have been interior linemen who have thrived below 300 pounds, including 295-pound Dolphins center Aaron Brewer.
And several players in recent years have made a successful move from defensive line to offensive line, including former Seattle long-time starting guard J.R. Sweezy (who played at 310 pounds) and former Bears starting guard Rashaad Coward, who played at 319 pounds. Lorenzo Alexander moved from defensive line to guard to linebacker.
Every team experiments. The Dolphins tried turning receiver Tanner Connor into a tight end, a project that lasted three-plus years before running its course. The Dolphins moved former Montana State edge player Bryce Sterk, an FCS standout, to tight end in 2020, but he never made the team.
Many of these outside-the-box moves ultimately don’t work out. But some do. And when you’re talking about players who are roster long shots to begin with, there’s absolutely nothing to lose by trying.
▪ It has become clear that Jonah Savaiinaea will have every chance to earn the starting right guard job. But if he flops, the Dolphins have two realistic options: Jamaree Salyer and seventh-round pick DJ Campbell.
Unfortunately, Salyer’s one full season at right guard (for the Chargers) didn’t go well; he allowed eight sacks that season (2023). He allowed four sacks while playing right guard in limited snaps during the past two seasons for Los Angeles.
Campbell permitted a combined four sacks while playing right guard the past two seasons at Texas. Eric Galko, the top football personnel executive for the East-West Shrine Game, raved about Campbell during a phone conversation last month, adding that “I can see him starting early in his career.”
▪ Dolphins defensive lineman Jordan Phillips graded out better against the run than Kenneth Grant last season (per PFF) and has turned heads so far in the offseason program.
“He’s worked his tail off this offseason,” Zach Sieler said this week. “To see his growth from last year to this year has been incredible.”
Another reporter mentioned to Phillips that he’s often the first defensive player to rush onto the field during games and asked the thinking behind that.
“Okay, I have a question,” he responded. “So say, for example, your pet gets loose and just runs out there in the road. Are you just going to get up and just slowly go about or are you going to run? Like you got to have urgency about everything that you do. This is a fast and physical game so you can’t walk on the field. You can’t just slow jog. No, you got to take the field because at the end of the day, there’s a guy that’s lined up in front of you who is going to try to kill you. So you got to take the field the right way. It’s just a mind-set. It’s a mentality.”
Coach Jeff Hafley “does a great job of setting the standard about how you do one thing is how you do everything,” Phillips said. “You don’t want to be lackadaisical in no aspect of your life. You know, you want to do everything the right way, so that’s what it’s about.”
▪ If Malik Washington is needed to play most snaps at receiver, would he remain Miami’s primary punt and kickoff returner?
That would be a heavy workload, but the Dolphins also would be diminishing their return game by lessening the load on Washington, who ranked sixth in kickoff return average last season (26.8 yards) and fourth in punt return average (13.0).
Asked if Washington will remain the team’s primary returner, new special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said: “I’d say everything’s always open. That’s the way we want it. The one thing I’ll say about Malik is he’s a dangerous player, a really good player.”
Rookie receiver Kevin Coleman would be the other top punt return option; he averaged a very good 12.6 yards (including a touchdown) on 15 punt returns for Missouri last season and has ranked seventh, sixth and fifth, in the Southeastern Conference, in punt returns yards the past three seasons. He has four career kickoff returns for 88 yards.
“He’s a guy that has first-step quickness, things that you need in a good returner, catches the ball well,” Tabor said. “He’s a guy that will also be in the mix.”
▪ Free agent running back Zamir White recently worked out for the Dolphins, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
White, a fourth-round pick in 2022, played in six games for the Raiders last season and had 12 rushes for 32 yards and four receptions for 24 yards. He has 198 career attempts for 736 yards (3.7 per carry) and two touchdowns in 45 games with nine starts. He has also caught 25 passes for 152 yards.
▪ If the Dolphins plan on churning the bottom of their roster after roster cuts, they will have more time to integrate new players this year.
The NFL has moved the cut down to 53 players from 4 p.m. on a Tuesday (12 days before most NFL teams open the season) to 6 p.m. on a Sunday (Aug. 30). Waiver claims are due at 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 31.
That will give the Dolphins (and the 28 teams who open the season the Sunday or Monday after Labor Day) a full two weeks for new players to practice.
The Patriots and Seahawks play the season opener on Wednesday, Sept. 9, and the Rams and 49ers play in Australia on Sept. 10 before every other team opens on Sept. 13 or 14. Miami opens at the Raiders at 4:25 p.m. on Sept. 13.
The NFL always opens the season a few days after Labor Day, and Labor Day is on the latest possible date this year.
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 2:31 PM.
