Resetting the Dolphins Roster After New Series of Cuts Featuring Former First-Round Pick

The Miami Dolphins followed their waiver wire pick-ups with another addition and then made room for all the newcomers

Miami Dolphins edge Clelin Ferrell (98) works during practice at Baptist Health Training Complex. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The day after roster cutdown day is always almost as busy, if not as busy, as the big day itself, and so it was for the Miami Dolphins.

After being awarded an NFL-high seven players off waivers early Monday afternoon, the Dolphins weren't done adding players signing a vested veteran who didn't have to go through waivers, and then did the less pleasant part of making room for all the newcomers on the 53-man roster.

The latest player the Dolphins signed was edge Malik Herring, who followed the waiver pick-ups of QB Brady Cook, TE Justin Joly, CB Marcellas Dial Jr., T Chukwuebuka Godrick, T Jarrett Kingston, CB Reese Taylor and S Julius Wood.

To make room for those eight players, the Dolphins released edge Clelin Ferrell and cornerback A.J. Green III; waived CB Ethan Bonner, T Marques Cox, WR AJ Henning, EDGE Max Llewellyn and G/T Josh Priebe; and waived/injured TE Ben Sims.

The moves left the Dolphins with the following numbres at each position (keep in mind we're putting Kyle Louis at linebacker because there's where he's still listed on the roster, even tough he's gotten most of his snaps at safety lately).

THE DOLPHINS ROSTER BY POSITION

Quarterback (3) — Malik Willis, Kyle McCord, Brady Cook
Running back (4) — De'Von Achane, Jaylen Wright, Ollie Gordon II, FB DJ Herman
Wide receivers (6) — Malik Washington, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, Kevin Coleman Jr., Jalen Tolbert, Ryan Miller
Tight ends (4) — Greg Dulcich, Will Kacmarek, Seydou Traore, Justin Joly
Offensive line (10) — Patrick Paul, Kadyn Proctor, Aaron Brewer, Jonah Savaiinaea, Austin Jackson, Andrew Meyer, Caedan Wallace, D.J. Campbell, Chukwuebuka Godrick, Jarrett Kingston
Defensive line (4) — Zach Sieler, Zeek Biggers, Jordan Phillips, Keith Cooper Jr.
Edge (4) — Chop Robinson, Josh Uche, Robert Beal Jr., Malik Herring
Linebacker (6) — Jordyn Brooks, Jacob Rodriguez, Willie Gay Jr., Ronnie Harrison Jr., Jackson Woodard, Kyle Louis
Cornerback (5) — Chris Johnson, JuJu Brents, Jason Marshall Jr., Reese Taylor, Marcellas Dial Jr.
Safety (4) — Dante Trader Jr., Zayne Anderson, Michael Taaffe, Julius Wood
Specialists (3) — Bradley Pinion, Riley Patterson, Tucker Addington

THE LOWDOWN ON HERRING

Herring (6-3, 275) played the past four seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2021.

While he never was considered a big-time prospect, Herring's chances of getting drafted were badly damaged when he sustained a torn ACL in the Senior Bowl in January 2021.

After spending his entire rookie season on IR as he continued recovering from the knee injury, he went on to play 28 games over the next four years with just one start, which came in 2023. He played only six snaps on defense in two games last year before being waived he re-signed to the practice squad. He joined the Tennessee Titans this offseason, but was released Sunday.

Herring will turn 29 in November, making him one of the oldest players on the Dolphins' 53-man roster.

FORMER FIRST-ROUND PICK GONE

The biggest name among those released or waived Monday was that of Ferrell, whose roller coaster of an NFL career after he was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft continues.

His status became pretty mysterious after he was sidelined with an undisclosed injury a couple of weeks ago that followed a solid enough start to his Miami tenure.

Ferrell was spotted at every practice and took part in the stretching period, but never was able to get back to actual practice after head coach Jeff Hafley had classified his status as "week to week."

THE PERFECT DRAFT PICK RECORD OVER

We made a big deal of the Dolphins batting 13-for-13 with their draft picks either making the initial 53-man roster or landing on IR (Trey Moore), but Llewellyn's departure took care of that.

Llewellyn, who's a strong candidate to return to the practice squad if he clears waivers, came on strong in the last couple of weeks of training camp after a very uneventful start.

His departure, along with that of Ferrell and the addition of Herring, left the Dolphins with only four edge defenders along with four interior defensive linemen.

Those are pretty low numbers, and on the flip side the Dolphins still have an inordinate amount of offensive linemen with 10.

THE SECONDARY SWITCHES

At cornerback, we said all along that very little separated the large group of cornerbacks the Dolphins had in camp once we got past rookie first-round pick Chris Johnson, JuJu Brents and Jason Marshall Jr.

So the Dolphins deciding to move on from Bonner and Green one day after they made the initial 53 maybe shouldn't be so surprising, but again they would seem two logical candidates to return to the practice squad if they clear waivers.

At safety, the Dolphins badly needed an addition because three is simply not a working number (again, operating with Louis being pegged as a linebacker).

Lastly, the decision to waive-injured Ben Sims instead of placing him on IR and later deciding whether to release off IR or designate him to return was a big surprising given it seemed as though he had made a good impression on the coaches before getting injured. That clearly was not the case because, again, the Dolphins absolutely didn't have to make this move unless they simply wanted to move on from him.