Dissecting the Dodson Move As Dolphins Make More Cuts

More Miami Dolphins moves were reported Sunday morning ahead of the 6 p.m. ET roster cutdown deadline, and the name of linebacker Tyrel Dodson clearly stood out.

Dodson was one of nine players whose release was reported from various sources, including Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, along with QB Cam Miller, WR Terrace Marshall Jr., CB Miles Battle, RB Carlos Washington Jr., LB Cam Riley, S Major Burns and CB Jai'Onte' McMillan.

Those moves follow the 12 official cuts the Dolphins made Saturday, along with the trade of quarterback Quinn Ewers to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2028 sixth-round pick.

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH DODSON?

Based on the Dolphins roster and his 2025 performance, which featured more than 100 tackles, it's safe to assume getting rid of Dodson was purely a financial decision.

Dodson was scheduled to make $2.4 million in base salary in 2026 along with $600,000 in roster bonus, so the Dolphins basically will save $3 million on the salary cap.

That doesn't seem a like a lot to get rid of a player who not only had 129 tackles last season but also was third on the team in sacks with five, trailing only Bradley Chubb and Zach Sieler.

The logic behind the move is that Dodson didn't figure into the team's long-term plans after the selections of Jacob Rodriguez and Trey Moore in the 2026 draft and sacrificing depth at linebacker was worth the cap savings for GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley.

If the Dolphins don't come close to playoff contention in 2026, as most everybody expects, then it's easy to endorse the move. But they will regret it if somehow they indeed are in contention in the second half of the season and wound up short on linebackers because of injuries.

The ideal scenario for the Dolphins if they were going to move from Dodson obviously would have been to get at least some kind of compensation for him, but apparently his $3 million price tag kept that from happening.

The Dolphins were able to pull that off with wide receiver Tutu Atwell, but his price tag came in at just over $1 million, not $3 million.

Dodson's Dolphins days will end after 1 1/2 seasons after he was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Seahawks midway through the 2024 season. Dodson played well enough for the Dolphins to get an extension following that season, but the regime change this offseason left him on the outside looking in.

NOT MILLER TIME AND THE OTHER CUTS

As for the other Sunday morning reported cuts, nothing major happened there, even if we thought Major Burns had a chance of making the 53.

His release left the Dolphins with four safeties on the roster, five if we want to count rookie fourth-round pick Kyle Louis in that group even though he's still listed as a linebacker. The four are Dante Trader Jr., Zayne Anderson, Lonnie Johnson Jr., and rookie fifth-round pick Michael Taaffe.

As for Cam Miller, there never seemed any way he would make the 53, even after the Dolphins traded Ewers, and the same goes for Mark Gronowski, who remained on the roster as of Sunday morning.

THE DOLPHINS MOVES TO THE 53-MAN ROSTER LIMIT

August 29 — Waived CB Alex Austin, RB Coleman Bennett, T Kevin Cline, EDGE Seth Coleman-Lyles, TE Ethan Conner, ILB Stephen Dix Jr., RB Donovan Edwards, DL Alex Huntley, S Louis Moore, DL Cam Rice, ILB Jaheim Thomas, WR Theo Wease Jr. ... Traded QB Quinn Ewers to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2028 sixth-round pick

August 30 — Released LB Tyrel Dodson ... waived WR Terrace Marshall Jr., TE Jeremiah Franklin, CB Miles Battle, QB Cam Miller, RB Carlos Washington Jr., LB Cam Riley, S Major Burns, CB Jai'Onte' McMillan

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