Dolphins Make Special Teams Switch
The Miami Dolphins made their first post-53 roster move of 2022 on Thursday, and it involved a swap of special teams standouts.
The team announced the signing of 11-year veteran Justin Bethel, who has played for different teams, most recently the New England Patriots — who, of course, the Dolphins will face in their season opener Sept. 11.
Bethel filled a roster spot created when Clayton Fejedelem, a Dolphins special teams captain the past two seasons, was placed on injured reserve. Fejedelem will have to miss at least four games before he's eligible to return.
Bethel, who turned 32 in June, played 159 regular season games in his first two NFL seasons, missing only two games (both in 2018 as a member of the Atlanta Falcons). He has started 14 games as a defensive back, but none since the 2017 season.
But he's a core special teams player — he played 79 percent or more of his team's special teams snaps the past four seasons.
And Bethel is very good at it. He was a Pro Bowl selection three times in his career, earning the nod from 2013-15 while he was with the Arizona Cardinals.
PRACTICE SQUAD ADDITIONS
The Dolphins announced 11 signings to the practice squad, including the eight who appeared on the NFL transactions list.
The three new names were center/guard James Empey, cornerback Kalon Barnes and defensive tackle Niles Scott.
Scott became the ninth practice squad member who was with the team in training camp, joining T Larnel Coleman, WR River Cracraft, LB Cameron Goode, LB Porter Gustin, S Verone McKinley III, WR Braylon Sanders, DT Ben Stille and RB Za'Quandre White.
Empey (6-3, 297) was with the Dallas Cowboys in training camp after joining the team as an undrafted rookie free agent out of BYU, where he was a four-year starter.
Barnes (6-0, 186) was a seventh-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL draft after posting the fastest 40-yard time at the NFL combine. He started 15 games at Baylor, where he also ran track. Barnes' 4.23 was the second-fastest time recorded at the combine, per NFL.com, since at least 2008 — the fastest was a 4.22 by University of Washington wide receiver John Ross in 2017.
