The Miami Dolphins got an early start Saturday cutting down the roster. There’s no real surprise as most of the names haven’t been called at all this offseason or during a game.
Offense
OL Ruben Carter: An undrafted rookie, buried on the depth chart.
WR AJ Cruz: Another player occupied by talent. One year with the Dolphins and one with the Bears.
WR Matt Hazel: Disappointing for Hazel as he has upside. Unfortunately for him, his days were numbered as soon as Jakeem Grant started to excel.
TE Gabe Hughes: Dolphins are set with Jordan Cameron and Dion Sims. Hughes was a long shot when Dominique Jones performed in the preseason.
WR Brandon Shippen: Shippen was undrafted signed with the Dolphins. Another receiver Miami has no business bringing in.
OL Vinston Painter: With Miami’s offense line filled with uncertainty, Painter had a slight edge over the rest of the cuts. It turns out the line seemed to gel and painter was cut.
Defense
LB Akil Blount: Miami’s linebackers weren’t as paper thin as expected.
CB Al Louis-Jean: Even after defensive backs struggled in the preseason, Miami knows who their depth will be. If rookie Xavien Howard would’ve faced a setback, the Dolphins may have looked deeper.
Special Teams:
LS Ryan DiSalvo: He would’ve had to come in and be amazing to beat out John Denney. Denney has 12 years, all of which have been with the Dolphins.
PK Marshall Koehn: Koehn would’ve had to boom field goals to unseat Andrew Franks. Franks was pretty solid in his rookie year and wasn’t too bad in the preseason camps.
Tuesday cuts are still coming for the Dolphins. The team needs to get down to 75 players by Tuesday’s deadline, then down to their 53-man roster by Saturday. First cuts are usually the expected players. After Tuesday’s cuts, the real shockers start trickling in.