Breaking Down the Roster Moves

The Dolphins slice into their wide receiver depth as they get down to the 80-player limit

The Dolphins made their second of three rounds of roster cuts Tuesday, and the moves had a heavy wide receiver flavor.

In fact, the Dolphins ended up having to make four moves to get down to the 80-player limit and three of them involved that position.

Before we analyze the moves, let's run them down:

-- WR Isaiah Ford released

-- OL Jermaine Eluemunor released

-- WR Robert Foster waived/injured

-- WR Lynn Bowden Jr. placed on injured reserve

The least surprising move of those involved Ford, and we preface that by saying he's always been a favorite here because of his perseverance. But the reality is that he faced considerable odds to stick around from the moment he signed with the Dolphins this summer for what seemed like the 47th time.

Ford is the type of player who the Dolphins could revisit at some point down the line if injuries create an emergency, though he'll never have a strong foothold on a roster spot.

The move with Eluemunor isn't overly surprising, either, considering the Dolphins have a bigger need on the offensive line at tackle than at guard and he never lined up at the former in practice despite having experience at both spots.

The other two moves are a bit more intriguing.

With Foster, it was interesting to see him waived/injured after he played 35 snaps in the 37-17 victory against Atlanta on Saturday. Like Ford, he was a victim of the Dolphins' depth at wide receiver, though he had a really strong start in camp before he cooled down a  bit.

The decision to waive him injured instead of just placing him on injured reserve is the telltale sign that the Dolphins obviously didn't value him enough to keep him around.

It was the opposite with Bowden, who really flashed as a rookie but then had a very quiet camp before having a good outing in the preseason opener against Chicago.

When Bowden left practice last week with a hamstring injury that appeared to have some significance, it left the Dolphins with the decision of carrying him on the initial 53-man roster and then placing him on injured reserve to get back him after three games or placing him on injured reserve and keeping his rights through the season.

Bowen being placed on IR is an indication he likely wouldn't have made the 53-man roster, but the Dolphins still value him enough to take another look at him in 2022, a low-cost move given that his base salary as a 2020 third-round pick of the Raiders is modest and they're the ones who had to dish out his signing bonus before trading him to the Dolphins.

The third and final round of cuts will come next Tuesday (by 4 p.m. ET) when teams have to be at 53 players. Two notes relating to the Dolphins: Wide receiver Will Fuller will be placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List to serve the final game of his six-game NFL suspension in Week 1 and will NOT count against the 53-man roster; and the roster exemption for Brazilian offensive lineman Durval Queiroz-Neto will be gone.

That exemption is why the Dolphins' current roster, as listed below by position, includes 81 players:

QUARTERBACKS (3)

Tua Tagovailoa, Jacoby Brissett, Reid Sinnett

RUNNING BACKS (7)

Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed, Malcolm Brown, Gerrid Doaks, Patrick Laird, Jordan Scarlett, FB Carl Tucker

WIDE RECEIVERS (11)

Albert Wilson, DeVante Parker, Will Fuller, Malcolm Perry, Jaylen Waddle, Preston Williams, Jakeem Grant, Kirk Merritt, Mack Hollins, Kai Locksley, Khalil McClain

TIGHT ENDS (6)

Mike Gesicki, Adam Shaheen, Durham Smythe, Cethan Carter, Hunter Long, Chris Myarick

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (13)

Matt Skura, Michael Deiter, Cameron Tom, Robert Jones, Solomon Kindley, Robert Hunt, Durval Queiroz Neto, Austin Jackson, Liam Eichenberg, Greg Little, Jesse Davis, Adam Pankey, Larnel Coleman

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (10)

Jason Strowbridge, Adam Butler, John Jenkins, Emmanuel Ogbah, Zach Sieler, Jonathan Ledbetter, Christian Wilkins, Benito Jones, Tyshun Render, Raekwon Davis

LINEBACKERS (12)

Jaelan Phillips, Andrew Van Ginkel, Duke Riley, Vince Biegel, Calvin Munson, Sam Eguavoen, Benardrick McKinney, Elandon Roberts, Shaquem Griffin, Jerome Baker, Josh Harvey-Clemons, Brennan Scarlett

DEFENSIVE BACKS (16)

Noah Igbinoghene, Eric Rowe, Jevon Holland, Byron Jones, Xavien Howard, Justin Coleman, Brandon Jones, Jason McCourty, Jamal Perry, Nate Holley, Javaris Davis, Nik Needham, Cre'Von LeBlanc, Clayton Fejedelem, Tino Ellis, Trill Williams

SPECIALISTS (3)

Michael Palardy, Jason Sanders, Blake Ferguson