Dolphins’ Chris Culliver To Return To Practice
After learning that star safety Reshad Jones is done for the season, we have word of some good news for the Miami secondary. Dolphins cornerback Chris Culliver is slated to practice for the first time this year, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Dolphins Safety Reshad Jones Done For Season]
Culliver, 28, signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins in August. When Miami signed the veteran corner, they knew that it would be some time before he would be able to take the field.
Culliver tore his ACL in November and that, understandably, hurt his market. Had he been healthy, Culliver likely would have been one of the best true outside cornerbacks in free agency. After all, he is on the right side of 30 and isn’t that far removed from being one of the league’s better players at the position.
In 2014, his final season with the 49ers, Culliver limited opposing quarterbacks to a completion percentage of 50.7% and a 66.5 passer rating when they threw into his coverage, according to Pro Football Focus. PFF’s grades placed Culliver as the 14th-best cornerback out of 108 qualified players. In 2015, however, Culliver started only six games for the Redskins, tallying 16 tackles and one pass deflection.
Dolphins’ Reshad Jones Done For Season
Bad news for the Dolphins. Star safety Reshad Jones has been ruled out for the rest of the season, according to Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald (on Twitter). Jones will be placed on IR. 
[RELATED: CB Chris Culliver Nearing Return?]
Earlier this week, we learned that the Dolphins feared that Jones suffered a torn rotator cuff. Apparently, their worst fears were confirmed by doctors on Wednesday morning.
Jones, 28, has 51 total tackles, four passes defensed, one interception, and even half a sack through six games this season. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus have him ranked as the third-best safety in the NFL so far this year with a strong 88.5 overall grade. Miami has been leaning on him heavily as evidenced by his 437 total snaps this season.
The Bills are next up for the 2-4 Dolphins. The Bills are riding a four-game winning streak and Miami will try to snap it without the services of one of their very best defensive players.
La Canfora: Dolphins Should Be Wary Of Tannehill's Injury Guarantees
- When the 49ers restructured Colin Kaepernick‘s deal, they got rid of the embattled quarterback’s injury guarantees so that he could return to the field without the club worrying about being tied to him for the long haul. The Dolphins and Cardinals should think similarly about their quarterbacks, opines Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, as both Ryan Tannehill and Carson Palmer have hefty injury guarantees for the 2017 campaign.
Dolphins’ Reshad Jones Done For Season?
Reshad Jones‘ season could already be over. The Dolphins fear that the safety tore his rotator cuff, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Jones is currently undergoing tests to determine the severity of his injury. 
Jones was instrumental in the Dolphins’ surprising 30-15 win over the Steelers on Sunday. If the Dolphins lose the best player in their secondary for the season, it’s hard to see them building momentum off of that win and turning their season around.
Jones, 28, has 51 total tackles, four passes defensed, one interception, and even half a sack through six games this season. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus have him ranked as the third-best safety in the NFL so far this year with a strong 88.5 overall grade. Miami has been leaning on him heavily as evidenced by his 437 total snaps this season.
The 2-4 Dolphins take on the red hot Bills next week.
Dion Jordan Has Additional Knee Procedure
Dion Jordan can technically return to the Dolphins after starting the season on the non-football injury list, but it sounds like it will be a while before we see him back on the field. Jordan had a second knee procedure a few weeks back, according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Dolphins’ Cameron Wake Won’t Request Trade]
Jordan, a former No. 3 overall pick in the draft, was conditionally reinstated by the league over the summer and the Dolphins were curious to see what he could bring to the table after missing the entire 2015 season. As it turns out, Jordan had a knee operation while he was waiting in limbo with the league office and didn’t notify the Dolphins. Now, he’s had a second surgery and it’s not clear if he will be able to play at all this year.
Through 26 games in 2013 and 2014, Jordan registered only 46 tackles and three sacks. It remains to be seen when he’ll record his next official statistic.
Dolphins Do Not Believe Tannehill Is The Problem
- The Dolphins continue to insist that, although Ryan Tannehill shares a fair amount of the blame for the team’s woeful start to the 2016 season, their quarterback problem is not strictly a Tannehill problem. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes that, upon reviewing game film, Miami’s coaching staff sees offensive linemen and receivers alike simply missing assignments and demonstrating poor technique, and if the team can remedy those issues, the staff believes Tannehill can realize his potential. In fact, Salguero writes, “speaking to people within the organization, there’s a concern that if this team gives up on Tannehill now, he would go elsewhere and in the years to come would be a good quarterback. Some other team’s good quarterback.”
Major Roster Changes Looming For Dolphins?
At 1-4 with a minus-31 point differential, the Dolphins have been among the NFL’s worst teams this season. There are clearly weaknesses throughout the Dolphins’ roster, and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes that the team has plenty of players it no longer wants. As a result, executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, general manager Chris Grier and head coach Adam Gase are likely to oversee a significant makeover during the offseason.
[RELATED: Cameron Wake Won’t Request Trade]
The Dolphins already began moving on from players who aren’t part of the solution earlier this week, cutting offensive linemen Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner on Tuesday. Turner is now with the Ravens, who claimed him on waivers, but Salguero reports that the Dolphins couldn’t find any takers when they shopped him and Thomas.
With Turner and Thomas gone, there are a slew of other Dolphins with iffy futures, according to Salguero. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill and offensive lineman Branden Albert are among those with nebulous statuses beyond this year, though Salguero doesn’t expect Miami to move on from either. Running back Arian Foster, tight end Jordan Cameron and tackle Jermon Bushrod are all impending free agents who are doubtful to return in 2017 (Cameron could retire). Receiver Kenny Stills‘ deal also expires at season’s end, and Salguero notes that he has a fan in Gase, but the Dolphins haven’t been willing to commit a multiyear deal to him yet. Unless that changes prior to free agency, Stills could head elsewhere for a raise.
Defensively, ends Mario Williams, Jason Jones and Andre Branch, linebackers Jelani Jenkins and Koa Misi, and cornerback Byron Maxwell might be in new uniforms next year. Williams and Maxwell, two high-profile offseason additions, look as though they’ll be one and done in Miami, per Salguero. The two have underwhelmed with the Dolphins, who would save $14MM (compared to $5MM in dead money) by releasing them prior to next season. The only other member of the group who’s signed past 2016 is Misi. However, Misi’s career could be in jeopardy, and releasing him would free up $4.2MM in spending room at the cost of just $578K in dead money next season – the final year of Misi’s contract.
Given that the Dolphins’ season isn’t even halfway over, at least some of these individuals could play their way out of the doghouse over the next 11 games. The Dolphins are currently on track for a sizable house cleaning, though, and with the 4-1 Steelers and 3-2 Bills next on their schedule, they could enter their Week 8 bye at 1-6.
Dolphins’ Cameron Wake Won’t Request Trade
Cameron Wake has spent his entire NFL career, which started in 2009, with the Dolphins. Unfortunately, the Dolphins haven’t been to the playoffs since the 2008 season. As the 1-4 Dolphins get set to take on the Steelers on Sunday, it doesn’t look like they’ll be snapping their playoff drought this year either. Still, Wake says that he won’t ask for a trade, as Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald writes. 
“It’s not a ‘which one’s more important,’” Wake said when asked about whether he wanted to win or spend the rest of his career with the Fins. “I just want to win. Obviously, I’m here in Miami and I’ll be here as long as they have me, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure Miami’s a winner. I’m not concerned with going anywhere else, doing anything else.”
Wake inked a two-year extension with Miami in May but the team can get out from under much of that obligation by trading him before the Nov. 1 trade deadline. The 34-year-old doesn’t have a say whether that happens, of course, but he’s not pushing for it to happen.
The seven-year veteran made only seven appearances last season due to a torn ACL. So far this year, he has four tackles and one sack.
Dolphins Want More From Mario Williams
Defensive end Mario Williams needs to “play better” and “play harder,” Dolphins D-coordinator Vance Joseph told reporters, including Chris Perkins of the Sun-Sentinel, on Thursday. After the AFC East rival Bills released Williams in March, the Dolphins quickly signed the 2006 No. 1 overall pick to a two-year, $17MM deal. Williams, 31, has underwhelmed on the stat sheet in Miami, where he has picked up just seven tackles in a sack in five games. While Pro Football Focus grades Williams’ overall performance a decent 44th among 99 qualifying DEs, his production is way down since last season. Over his past 20 games, Williams has recorded a meager 26 tackles and six sacks.
Dolphins To Retain Ryan Tannehil In 2017?
- Considering all the problems on their roster, the Dolphins aren’t sure if they can properly evaluate fifth-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill this season, Breer suggests. As a result, Breer doesn’t expect the Dolphins to move on from Tannehill during the offseason. Releasing the 2012 first-round pick before March would save Miami all but $3.5MM of his $17.98MM salary for 2017. The 28-year-old is under team control through 2020 on the six-year, $96MM extension he signed in May 2015.
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