Dolphins cut Michel, Sanu and 10 others and explore trades
Facing a Tuesday deadline to cut their roster from 81 to 53, the Miami Dolphins trimmed 13 players on Monday, a group led by veteran running back Sony Michel and receiver Mohamad Sanu.
Also released: offensive linemen Adam Pankey and Blaise Andries; safety Quincy Wilson; edge players Darius Hodge and Owen Carney Jr.; running backs Gerrid Doaks and Zaquandre White; safety Elijah Hamilton; defensive tackle Niles Scott and cornerback D’Angelo Ross.
Also, linebacker Calvin Munson was placed on injured reserve and is out for the year.
Teams must cut their rosters to 53 by 4 p.m. Tuesday. Any player placed on injured reserve before the 53-man roster is set on Tuesday is ruled out for the season, unless that player later reaches an injury settlement with his team and is released.
Any player who’s on the initial 53-man roster at 4 p.m. Tuesday can be placed on injured reserve and return after missing four games. Each team can bring back as many as eight players who are placed on injured reserve this season, provided they make the initial 53-man roster and are then placed on IR.
Such avenues would be a possibility for injured Dolphins such as edge player Brennan Scarlett.
The Dolphins also must remove cornerback Byron Jones from the physically unable to perform list by 4 p.m. Tuesday or he would miss the first four games of the season. Jones had March surgery in the ankle/Achilles area.
Among those released Monday, Sanu and Michel had the largest NFL body of work.
Sanu fell short in his bid to make the team as a fifth or sixth receiver.
Michel - who started 35 NFL games and won a Super Bowl with the Rams last season - had an underwhelming preseason and was beaten out by Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed.
Preston Williams, another player who had been competing for those final receiver jobs, has been made available in trade talks and conversations with other teams are ongoing, according to a source. He could be released if he’s not traded by Tuesday afternoon.
The Dolphins also have had trade discussions regarding receiver Lynn Bowden Jr.
Among others released Monday were two offensive linemen: Andries, who was trying to make the team as a multi-position undrafted rookie from Minnesota, and Pankey, who had appeared in seven games for the Dolphins over the past three seasons.
Miami also cut Doaks, a seventh-round pick in 2021 who spent all of last season on the Dolphins’ practice squad, never appearing in a game. White, the undrafted South Carolina rookie, flashed in camp and could end up on the practice squad.
Munson will spend the season on IR; he appeared in 22 games and started two for the Dolphins over the past three seasons. But the Dolphins had one less inside linebacker job available after drafting Channing Tindall in the third round.
Hodge had a solid camp but the Dolphins are deep in backup edge players and added to that depth by signing veteran Trey Flowers on Monday.
Among bubble players, there is internal sentiment toward keeping Texas A&M Commerce rookie Kader Kohou, according to a source.
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Dolphins cut Michel, Sanu and 10 others and explore trades."
