Dolphins Make Another Move in the Kicking Game

The Miami Dolphins have made three transactions involving long-snappers in the past three days

Alabama Crimson Tide long snapper Kneeland Hibbett (51) against the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2022 CFP college football national championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in the 2021 season. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins moves with their long-snappers continue.

This one should have been expected, the Dolphins announcing Saturday they had released rookie free agent Kneeland Hibbert from Alabama.

This comes one day after the Dolphins signed longtime New England Patriots long-snapper Joe Cardona.

With the latest move, the Dolphins are back to having only one long-snapper on the roster, though Jacob Garcia took part in the rookie minicamp on a tryout basis this weekend.

Hibbett was among the 16 undrafted free agents the Dolphins signed after the 2025 draft after he spent four years as the Alabama long-snapper.

This makes three consecutive days with a roster move at long-snapper, starting with veteran Blake Ferguson being among four players let go Thursday.

CARDONA'S LONG RESUME

That the Dolphins would release Hibbert almost was a given after they signed Cardona, whose release from New England came as a surprise and was viewed among many team observers as a case of new head coach Mike Vrabel wanting to put his stamp on the team.

Cardona joined the Dolphins after spending 10 seasons with the Patriots, who made him a fifth-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft. New England released him April 29, three days after selecting long-snapper Julian Ashby in the seventh round of the 2025 draft.

Cardona played 160 of 164 possible games in his time with the Patriots, winning the Super Bowl in the 2016 and 2018 seasons. He was the last member of the 2016 team left before he was released. He was selected as a team captain last year.

FERGUSON'S TIME OVER

Ferguson had been the team's long-snapper for five-plus seasons before he was placed on the Non-Football Injury list early last season.

Ferguson never returned last season and no details ever emerged about what caused him to be placed on NFI.

Ferguson joined the Dolphins as a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft. His brother Reid is the longtime long-snapper for the Buffalo Bills.

The Dolphins never replaced Ferguson with another long-snapper after he was placed on NFI, instead elevating different players the maximum three times before making a switch.

The one exception was Jake McQuaide, who was signed to the active roster for the final three games. He remains unsigned as an unrestricted free agent.

Also doing long-snapping for the Dolphins in 2024 were Matt Overton, Tucker Addington and Zach Triner.

Ferguson was one of four players let go Thursday along with cornerback Ryan Cooper Jr., offensive lineman Chasen Hines and defensive lineman Neil Farrell.

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