Miami Dolphins release quarterback and wide receiver and trade for a tight end
.JPG "Dolphins quarterback Jake Rudock was lights out in the first half, completing 13 of 16 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown.")
The Miami Dolphins appear poised to enter training camp with three quarterbacks instead of four.
Miami on Saturday released veteran QB Jake Rudock, who was a long shot to make the team because the Dolphins are set at the position with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh Rosen and rookie first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa.
Rudock’s release suggests the Dolphins quarterbacks are healthy, and that Tagovailoa should be able to be ready to go when training camp practices begin on the 16th day of training camp.
Tagovailoa’s agent, Chris Cabott, previously told The Miami Herald that Tagovailoa is 100 percent healthy and able to play this season if the team chooses to use him.
All players must report to the Dolphins on Tuesday, with COVID-19 tests scheduled on Tuesday and Friday.
Rudock, a former Detroit Lions backup quarterback and St. Thomas Aquinas standout, was on the Dolphins’ practice squad last season.
Miami also released wide receiver Ricardo Louis, the former Miami Beach High standout who missed all of last season with a knee injury after signing with the Dolphins in the spring.
Louis played in 32 games and started 12 for the Cleveland Browns in 2016 and 2017 but hasn’t played a regular-season snap in the league since. He missed the 2018 season with a neck injury.
Louis was a long shot to make the roster. DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant almost assuredly will be on the team, and Allen Hurns, Isaiah Ford, Gary Jennings and undrafted rookies Kirk Merritt and Matt Cole and battling for the fifth and sixth receiver jobs.
Also Saturday, the Dolphins traded a conditional sixth-round pick for tight end Adam Shaheen, who has started 13 games for the Bears over the past three years.
Shaheen, over those three seasons, has 26 catches for 249 yards and four touchdowns.
He started two games last season and appeared in eight. He was a second-round pick by the Bears out of Ashland College in 2017.
Shaheen, who is 6-6 and 257 pounds, will compete with Durham Smythe, Michael Roberts and Chris Myarick for the No. 2 and No. 3 tight end jobs behind Mike Gesicki.
Undrafted rookie Bryce Sterk, a former college defensive end transitioning to tight end, also remains under contract at the position.
With the release of Louis and Rudock on Saturday and the acquisition of Shaheen - coupled with Thursday’s release of rookie defensive lineman Ray Lima - Miami’s roster stands at 85.
NFL teams may enter training camp with 90 players but must reduce their rosters to 80 by Aug. 16.
If a team wants to remain above the 80-man threshold, they must split practice sessions into two groups: one for rookie and second-year players, and another for all other veterans.
The Dolphins can keep 81 players beyond that Aug. 18 date because of a roster exemption for guard Durval Queiroz Neto, who is part of the league’s international development program.
Lima, who signed with Miami as an undrafted rookie out of Iowa State, did not report to Dolphins camp with other rookies on Thursday because he decided to retire in recent weeks, according to a source. Coach Brian Flores called him to see if he was sure about his decision, but Lima decided to do something else with his life. His retirement was in no way related to COVID-19.
NFL teams will have a 53-man roster during the regular season, but with one new caveat: The roster can be expanded to 54 or 55 players on any week by elevating players from the practice squad.
The practice squad this season will expand from 10 players to 16.
This story was originally published July 25, 2020 at 5:22 PM.
