Dolphins Reach 53-Man Max
The Dolphins reached the 53-man roster maximum. Here’s how:
Waived:
- LS Winston Chapman
- P Matt Darr
- QB Brandon Doughty
- TE Thomas Duarte
- G Isame Faciane
- QB David Fales
- WR Trey Griffey
- S A.J. Hendy
- T Sean Hickey
- CB Larry Hope
- RB Storm Johnson
- LB Deon Lacey
- WR Rashad Lawrence
- WR Malcolm Lewis
- CB Jordan Lucas
- DE Cameron Malveaux
- DE Praise Martin-Oguike
- WR Mitch Mathews
- WR Drew Morgan
- DT Lawrence Okoye
- TE Chris Pantale
- CB Lafayette Pitts
- DE Joby Saint Fleur
- RB De’Veon Smith
- WR Damore’ea Stringfellow
- LB Junior Sylvestre
- DE Julius Warmsley
- T Avery Young
Waived/injured:
- LB Neville Hewitt
- LB Brandon Watts
Released:
- DE Nick Williams
- T Sam Young
Placed on IR:
- CB Tony Lippett
- LB Raekwon McMillan
PUP List:
Williams played in ten games between the Chiefs and Dolphins last season, finishing with eight tackles. He restructured his deal in March, but it wasn’t enough to keep his spot in Miami.
Young was slated to make $1.2MM in 2017 per the terms of the extension he signed in the winter.
Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC East teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, and Jets are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day (all links go to Twitter unless noted otherwise):
Buffalo Bills
- Claimed:
- FB Dan Vitale (Link via PFT)
- Waived:
- LB Jamari Lattimore (story)
- Signed to practice squad:
- C Gabe Ikard (Post via NFL.com)
- K Jordan Gay
- WR Dezmin Lewis
- CB Doran Grant (link via Joe Buscaglia)
- WR Matt Hazel (link via Joe Buscaglia)
- LB Max Valles (link via Joe Buscaglia)
Miami Dolphins
- Claimed:
- WR Justin Hunter (story)
- Waived:
- WR Griff Whalen (link via Armando Salguero)
- Signed to practice squad:
- OT Ulrick John (Link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle)
- WR Rashawn Scott (link via Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel)
- S A.J. Hendy (link via Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel)
- LB James Burgess (story)
- G Jamil Douglas (story)
- TE Thomas Duarte (story)
- DE Cleyon Laing (story)
- CB Lafayette Pitts (story)
- DE Jordan Williams (story)
- OLB Brandon Watts (Link via Wilson)
New England Patriots
- Signed to practice squad:
- RB Bishop Sankey (story)
- DE Rufus Johnson (link via Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald)
- Ol Chris Barker (Link via Doug Kyed)
- WR Devin Street (Link via Mike Reiss)
- DE Geneo Grissom (Link via Reiss)
- WR Devin Lucien (Link via Reiss)
- DT Woodrow Hamilton (Link via Reiss)
- OL Clay DeBord (Link via Kyed)
New York Jets
- Claimed:
- TE Braedon Bowman (Link via PFT)
- TE Brian Parker
- RB Troymaine Pope
- DB Darryl Roberts
- Waived:
- CB Dexter McDougle
- S Ronald Martin
- RB Dominique Williams
- RB Khiry Robinson (waived/injured)
- Signed to practice squad:
- LB Freddie Bishop (link via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY)
- OL Mike Liedtke (link via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY)
- S Doug Middleton (link via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY)
- DE Claude Pelon (link via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY)
- WR Chandler Worthy (link via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY)
- CB Bryson Keeton (link via Darryl Slater)
- WR Myles White (link via Darryl Slater)
- C Craig Watts
Dolphins Move Roster To 53
The Dolphins have trimmed their roster to 53:
- RB Daniel Thomas (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald)
- OL Sam Young (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com)
- DL Chris Jones
- DB Rashaan Melvin (Twitter link via Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post)
- CB Chimdi Chekwa (Twitter link via Mike Florio of PFT)
- TE Dominique Jones (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald)
- DB Shamiel Gary (Twitter link via Jackson)
- DT DeAndre Coleman (Twitter link via Jackson)
- DE Cleyon Laing (Twitter link via Jackson)
- DE Jordan Williams (Twitter link via Jackson)
- G Jamil Douglas (Twitter link via Jackson)
- WR Rashawn Scott (Twitter link via Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald)
- OT Ulrick John (Twitter link via Jackson)
- TE Thomas Duarte (Twitter link via Jackson)
- CB Lafayette Pitts (Twitter link via Jackson)
- QB Zac Dysert (Twitter link via Jackson)
- LB James Burgess
- LB Tyler Gray
- S A.J. Hendy
- DE Cedric Reed
- LB James-Michael Johnson
This offseason, Thomas hooked on with the Dolphins for what was to be his third stint with the team. Thomas had a path to making the 53-man roster, but his chances were hurt when the team added Arian Foster late in the offseason. In four seasons with Miami, Thomas ran for 1,480 yards off of 409 attempts, good for just 3.6 yards per carry. In 2014, he saw time in 12 games, rushing for 168 yards off of 44 carries, good for a 3.8 yard average on each try. At one point in time, Thomas was looked at as a significant piece of the Dolphins offense, but he fell out of favor in Miami and has been yo-yoed on and off the roster.
Chekwa at one point was in the mix to win a starting job with Miami. However, for one reason or another, he couldn’t make the final cut. The Dolphins now have rookie Xavien Howard back on the field and free agent addition Chris Culliver, so they have enough bodies at cornerback.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dolphins Sign Laremy Tunsil, 12 UDFAs
The Dolphins have locked up their first-round pick, announcing today (via Twitter) that offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil has signed his rookie contract. The team also confirmed that seventh-round quarterback Brandon Doughty has signed his deal, as reported on Thursday.
Tunsil, the 13th overall pick last Thursday, had been expected to be the No. 1 overall pick before the Titans sent that selection to the Rams in a pre-draft trade. Tunsil continued to slip on draft night when, less than an hour before the event got underway, a video surfaced of the former Ole Miss tackle smoking marijuana out of a gas-mask bong.
While the Dolphins were thrilled to have Tunsil fall to them, there’s still some lingering concern within the organization about how he may have been affected by the pre-draft leak, and whether that leaker may continue to attempt to do damage, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Still, those concerns aren’t significant enough to postpone Miami’s signing of Tunsil, and the rookie lineman’s contract contains no unique clauses to protect the team, says Werder.
In addition to signing Tunsil, the Dolphins also announced that they have added 12 undrafted free agents to their roster. Here’s the full list of Miami’s UDFAs:
- LB Akil Blount (FAMU)
- LB James Burgess (Louisville)
- C/G Ruben Carter (Toledo)
- LS Ryan Disalvo (San Jose State)
- LB Tyler Gray (Boise State)
- S A.J. Hendy (Maryland)
- TE Gabe Hughes (Florida Tech)
- DE Farrington Huguenin (Kentucky)
- K Marshall Koehn (Iowa)
- CB Lafayette Pitts (Pittsburgh)
- WR Rashawn Scott (Miami)
- WR Brandon Shippen (Temple)