Dolphins make flurry of roster moves, including a cornerback who can double as returner
The Dolphins made a flurry of roster moves Tuesday, including parting ways with former Cardinals first-round pick Robert Nkemdiche.
Miami also signed veteran cornerback Marcus Sherels and Baltimore Ravens practice-squad running back De’Lance Turner.
Miami gave up on Nkemdiche, a defensive lineman, after only two games and 18 defensive snaps.
He had 4.5 sacks in 10 games for Arizona last season, prompting Miami to sign him in August after Arizona released him.
He spent the first seven weeks of the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list, recovering from a December knee injury but didn’t play well in his limited opportunity in two games. And NFL.com said tardiness was also a problem for Nkemdiche here.
Nkemdiche’s departure gave Miami three open spots on its 53-man roster, with the others vacated by Mark Walton’s four-game suspension and Preston Williams’ season-ending knee injury.
Two of the roster spots were filled by Sherels — who has played in 123 games over eight years with Minnesota, including six starts — and Turner, a second-year player with one NFL carry.
The other roster spot might be filled by receiver Isaiah Ford, who was praised by coach Brian Flores on Monday. If that happens, then former third-round pick Cordrea Tankersley might not play this season.
The Dolphins must decide by Wednesday whether to activate Tankersley off the physically-unable-to-perform list or decide to keep him sidelined for the season. The team remains non-committal.
“With Cordrea, it’s more getting back into football playing shape than anything,” cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer said on Tuesday.
Tankersley, who sustained a significant knee injury in a practice in October 2018, said last week that he’s fully back from the injury and ready to play. But the Dolphins could opt to keep him out for the year.
Instead of activating Tankersley, the Dolphins brought in Sherels, a former undrafted free agent out of Minnesota who lasted eight years on the Vikings’ roster before being cut.
Sherels has recorded 72 total tackles (59 solo), one sack, and one interception in his career.
With Williams going on IR, part of Sherels’ appeal could be his special-teams work, giving Miami an option to split return responsibilities with Jakeem Grant.
Sherels has 237 punt returns for 2,480 yards (a 10.5 average) and five touchdowns, plus 54 kickoff returns for 1,359 yards (a 25.2 average).
Among active players, Sherels is third in punt-return yards and fifth in punt-return average and holds the Vikings’ career record for punt-return touchdowns.
He signed with the Saints in the offseason, went on injured reserve in August, was cut, and spent a month back with the Vikings before his Oct. 22 release.
The Dolphins had been having Williams handle punt returns and Grant handle kickoff returns.
TALIB SPEAKS
Cornerback Aqib Talib, acquired by the Dolphins last week in a strictly financial move, told Fox radio on Tuesday that he’s healthy enough to play now. But by league rule, he cannot play until Week 15, because the Rams placed him on injured reserve.
“I talked to Coach Flo and right now, I’m just focused on getting healthy,” he said of Brian Flores. “When I’m able to come off the injured-reserve list, it’ll be a decision to make for the team, for myself. But ultimately, I don’t make any decisions, as you can see. I just show up and make sure I’m healthy enough to play football.”
Talib — who will be a free agent after the season — said he “kind of disagreed with the IR” decision made by the Rams and that he “wasn’t the happiest camper.”
The Dolphins agreed to absorb his $4.2 million salary in exchange for receiving a 2020 fifth-round pick from the Rams. Miami must send the Rams a 2022 seventh-rounder.
The Dolphins can bring one more player back from injured reserve, and any chance of Talib playing for Miami this season would end if the Dolphins use that slot on rookie defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter or rookie linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel.
▪ What has led to tight end Mike Gesicki’s improvement?
Tight-ends coach George Godsey said he’s “practicing a lot harder” and “he’s improving in his whole route tree.”
▪ The Dolphins haven’t decided whether Jesse Davis should stay at tackle (he has been at right tackle in recent weeks) or move back to guard.
“He played pretty well last week at right tackle,” offensive-line coach Dave DeGuglielmo said. “People just assume [Miami should] move him back to guard because that’s where he played. Who’s to say he played real good at guard last year?
“I don’t say he played bad there, but what makes him better at guard than tackle? I see the areas that make me believe he could play inside or outside. He might make a great center one day.”
Here’s my Tuesday piece on the Dolphins’ running-back situation, including the plan for Kalen Ballage.
Here’s my Tuesday piece with some feedback on LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who will be watched closely by the Dolphins this weekend when LSU plays at Alabama, and Oregon’s Justin Herbert.
This story was originally published November 5, 2019 at 5:13 PM.
