What to Know About the Latest Round of Dolphins Tryouts, Practice Squad Shuffling

The Miami Dolphins made a switch on their practice squad Tuesday when they also held some auditions.

The Dolphins signed edge defender Eric Watts to the practice squad and released edge Amari Gainer.

The player-for-player swap left the Dolphins still with their one practice squad vacancy, and the Dolphins now can re-sign Carlos Washington Jr. to the unit if they wish after he cleared waivers Tuesday.

You may recall that Washington was signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster Saturday to provide depth at running back behind Jaylen Wright and Ollie Gordon II when the Dolphins couldn't use a simple elevation because they were using their maximum two such moves on edge Rodney McGraw and defensive tackle Mazi Smith.

Watts played 18 games with one start for the New York Jets the past two seasons after arriving as a undrafted rookie free agent. He had a total of 23 tackles in those 18 games. He had a career-high four tackles in his only NFL, which came in the 2025 season finale when the Jets lost a 35-8 decision against the Buffalo Bills.

Watts, who played at UConn, becomes the third edge defender on the practice squad along with McGraw and rookie seventh-round pick Max Llewellyn, who was elevated for the Week 2 game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Watts was among one of six players who tried out for the Dolphins on Tuesday, a group that included a famous name (though not famous player) — Zach Thomas.

THE OTHER TRYOUT PLAYERS

Here's the rundown of the other five tryout players:

-- DT Jalen Hunt, Cincinnati: Rookie free agent from Cincinnati was waived by New England. Spent seven years in college at Michigan State and Cincinnati.
-- T Darian Kinnard, Kentucky: Fifth-round pick of the Chiefs in 2022. Has appeared in 20 NFL games with five starts, including starting four games for the Green Bay Packers in 2025. Acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025 in a trade for a 2027 sixth-round pick. Waived by the Packers and Giants this summer.
-- DT Brodric Martin, Western Kentucky: Has appeared in six NFl games with one start, that coming with Detroint in 2024. Played one game for the Steelers in 2025. Third-round pick of the Lions in the 2023 draft. Waived by the Raiders and Arizona Cardinals this year.
-- G Melvin Priestly, Kentucky: Rookie free agent with the Detroit Lions.
-- G Zachary Thomas, San Diego State: Has played in 17 games with no starts in three NFL seasons with the Rams, Patriots and Texans. Waived by the 49ers and Titans this summer.

FORMER DOLPHINS NEWS

-- Tight end Hunter Long was placed on injured reserve by the Arizona Cardinals.
-- Cornerback Marco Wilson, who was in camp with the Dolphins this summer, had. tryout with the Carolina Panthers.
-- Offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill had a tryout with the L.A. Chargers, setting the stage for a reunion with Mike McDaniel and former Dolphins offensive line coach Butch Barry.

THE UPDATED DOLPHINS PRACTICE SQUAD

ILB Liam Anderson, Holy Cross
T Gottlieb Ayedze, Maryland
CB Ethan Bonner, Stanford
S Major Burns, LSU
DL Keith Cooper Jr., Houston
G James Ester, Northern Illinois
WR AJ Henning, Northwestern
RB Jarquez Hunter, Auburn
EDGE Max Llewellyn, Iowa
EDGE Rodney McGraw, Western Michigan
WR Jalen Reagor, TCU
WR Will Sheppard, Colorado
DT Mazi Smith, Michigan
TE Tre Watson, Texas A&M
EDGE Eric Watts, Connecticut

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