The Dolphins began making cap-related cuts last week when they released wide receivers Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson, and the team is far from done. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (via Twitter), the club parted ways with cornerback Cortland Finnegan today. Barry Jackson of the Herald adds (via Twitter) that agent Drew Pittman has confirmed the team is also releasing his client, offensive lineman Nate Garner, who is still dealing with concussion-related issues.
Finnegan, 31, was one of the league’s worst corners in 2013, according to Pro Football Focus advanced metrics (subscription required). PFF ranked Finnegan 109th out of 110 qualified corners, with a grade of -19.7 in just seven games. So it came as a bit of a surprise when Miami inked the former Ram to a two-year, $11MM deal last offseason. Finnegan was a little better for the Dolphins, but still placed just 74th out of 108 corners, with a -4.4 grade in 2014, per PFF.
By cutting Finnegan, the Dolphins will remove his $5.45MM base salary and a $25K workout bonus from their books for 2015, reducing his $6.475MM cap hit to just $1MM in dead money.
As for Garner, he missed a chunk of the 2014 season due to ongoing headache and migraine issues, and it’s not clear if he’ll continue his playing career, or if he’ll even be able to. The offensive lineman’s release creates $1.65MM in cap savings for the Dolphins, leaving just $167K in dead money on the books for 2015.