The Miami Dolphins opened up three roster spots on Tuesday when they placed quarterback Malik Willis and defensive lineman Zach Sieler on injured reserve and waived cornerback Reese Taylor.
On Wednesday, they've started to fill those holes, as the team announced that they've signed defensive lineman Keith Cooper Jr. off the Carolina Panthers' practice squad.
Cooper, 23, played collegiately at Tulane from 2021-23 and at Houston in 2024, where he earned All-Big 12 honors in his lone season with the Cougars. After going undrafted in 2025, he had stints with the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns as a rookie.
Miami signed Cooper to a reserve/futures contract in January, and he spent the offseason with the team and made the roster out of camp. However,
the team waived him and brought him back to the practice squad in late September and fully released him in early October.
Just days later, Cooper joined the Panthers practice squad and has been there since.
In three games for the Dolphins earlier this season, he played 29 defensive snaps and 16 on special teams. He recoded one tackle during that time.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Dolphins bring back old friend to fill one of three open roster spots
