Dolphins cut a bunch of familiar names, lose cornerback for first four games
The Dolphins reached the 53-man roster limit Tuesday afternoon by cutting Preston Williams, Lynn Bowden Jr. and 11 others, but the big news of the day was bad news:
Byron Jones will miss the first month of the season - against New England, Baltimore, Buffalo and Cincinnati. Jones was moved to the reserve PUP (physically unable to perform) list, which requires sitting out four games.
The veteran cornerback underwent surgery in the ankle/Achilles area in March, and the original timetable had him being cleared for football by early July. Coach Mike McDaniel has consistently said he expected him back for the start of the season. But the Dolphins decided he wasn’t quite ready.
“We’re just being patient,” general manager Chris Grier said Tuesday. “We made the decision to put him down for four games. He was optimistic about being back in a couple weeks, but we can’t rush him out there.”
That means the Dolphins’ initial 53-man roster will have five cornerbacks: Xavien Howard, Nik Needham, Noah Igbinoghene, Keion Crossen and rookie Kader Kohou.
Among the bubble players who made the 53-man roster: tight ends Tanner Conner and Cethan Carter, linebacker Sam Eguavoen, Kohou and left tackle Greg Little. Miami also kept five safeties, with Clayton Fejedelem and Elijah Campbell the fourth and fifth.
Grier and McDaniel said keeping No. 3 quarterback Skylar Thompson on the 53-man roster was a no-brainer.
Other teams “were saying you would be stupid to let him go,” Grier said.
McDaniel then added: “We’re not in the business of doing something stupid.”
McDaniel added that nobody ever complains about having too many good quarterbacks and “if you let those things slip through your finger, you will end up regretting it.”
There’s no bigger surprise on the 53-man roster than Conner, the undrafted Idaho State receiver who was converted to tight end by the Dolphins. Conner, 6-3, has good speed and caught several deep passes in training camp.
“He did a good job here,” Grier said. “Visited with him on a 30 visit in the spring. He improved every day. Smart kid, wants to improve his craft and play in the NFL.”
Though Conner has been sidelined with an injury for two weeks and has a brace on one of his legs, Grier indicated full-season IR wasn’t a sensible option: “He will be back here shortly. It’s not IR with him. Talent wise, we would have lost him [if they tried to put him on waivers and move him to the practice squad]. Other teams were asking about him. He’s got a future here potentially.”
The other undrafted rookie to make was Texas A&M Commerce rookie Kohou, who was around the ball a lot in camp and preseason games. “It’s obvious when the game is not too big for you [and it wasn’t for him],” McDaniel said.
The Dolphins had at least eight NFL-caliber receivers but ended up keeping only five after releasing Williams, Bowden, River Cracraft and rookie Braylon Sanders.
The other players released Tuesday: seventh-round rookie edge player Cameron Goode; guard Solomon Kindley; offensive tackles Larnel Coleman and Kion Smith; rookie offensive tackle Kellen Diesch; rookie safety Verone McKinley III; defensive tackles Ben Stille and Benito Jones; and veteran edge player Porter Gustin.
Edge player Brennan Scarlett was placed on injured reserve and will miss the season unless the team and Scarlett reach an injury settlement when his foot injury heals.
Goode — the rookie seventh-round pick — and Gustin (a veteran who played well in camp) got caught up in the numbers game, with the Dolphins having added Melvin Ingram and Trey Flowers as edge players to complement Jaelan Phillips and Andrew Van Ginkel.
“Trey’s familiarity with our system and scheme helps,” Grier said. “We were looking for someone with his skill set. In New England, he could do some rush inside, too. We realized he had bad luck with injuries [which prematurely ended his past two seasons with Detroit]. He’s not asked to be a star here. Just help. Great teammate, great person.”
At receiver, the Dolphins cut Williams after trying to unsuccessfully to trade him. Williams finishes his Dolphins career with 56 receptions for 787 yards and seven touchdowns in 24 games and 17 starts.
Bowden was used as a returner in the past two preseason games but could never gain traction in Miami’s receiving room. He caught 28 passes for 211 yards in 2020 after being acquired from Las Vegas before that season but spent last season on injured reserve with a hamstring issue.
The Dolphins hope that Sanders, the undrafted rookie from Mississippi, passes through waivers unclaimed. His camp indicated he will sign with Miami’s practice squad if he passes through waivers.
Cracraft caught four passes for 54 yards in preseason but the Dolphins opted to keep only five receivers.
As for the offensive line, Kindley lost a backup guard battle to Robert Jones after starting 15 games in two years, including 13 as a rookie in 2020.
Smith and Coleman were beaten out by Greg Little in the battle for a backup offensive tackle job. Little played well in Saturday’s preseason game against Philadelphia.
That leaves Michael Deiter, Robert Jones and Little as the Dolphins’ three backup offensive linemen.
“You need more players than eight,” McDaniel said of the offensive line. “We feel good where [No. 3 tackle] Greg Little is at. We feel good about the ways our tackles are performing.”
Diesch, the Arizona State rookie, walked away with $130,000 guaranteed but couldn’t win a backup offensive line job.
McKinley, a playmaking rookie safety from Oregon, had interceptions on consecutive days of training camp but came up short in his bid to make 53.
Stille, the undrafted rookie from Nebraska, flashed in camp and could end up on the practice squad. Stille and Benito Jones were beat out by veteran John Jenkins.
This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 9:21 AM.
