The Miami Dolphins have moved on from many players over the past two days, with one player traded and the rest waived, placed on injured reserve or moved to the reserve/PUP list.
Miami will likely make many more moves before they take the field for their Week 1 game against the Las Vegas Raiders
at Allegiant Stadium, as Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley look to put together the best team they can to compete.While this isn't the final roster, we still have some thoughts on the initial 53 and the moves it took to get there. Here are some takeaways.
Dolphins saw what we all did at QB
Miami signed Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million deal this offseason to be their starter, but behind him there were a lot of questions. Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller were holdovers from last year, and the Dolphins
brought in Mark Gronowski as an undrafted free agent.
None of the three behind Willis performed well throughout camp and the preseason. Over the last two days, Miami traded Ewers to the Jacksonville Jaguars and waived both Miller and Gronowski.
To take their place, the Dolphins acquired Kyle McCord from the Green Bay Packers, who Miami should have great intel about from passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was with the quarterback in Philadelphia in 2025.
The WR room was a bit of a surprise
The Dolphins kept seven wide receivers to start the 2026 season. While it felt very likely that Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell and Kevin Coleman Jr. would be it, it was a bit surprising that they kept A.J. Henning and Ryan Miller.
Henning was a consistent producer in camp, and in the preseason he caught three passes for 75 yards. Miller was even more of a surprise considering Miami just claimed him off of waivers a few days ago, and he only played on special teams in the preseason finale.
Jacob Rodriguez has ascended
Miami's most shocking cut ahead of the deadline was linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who was a starter for the team last year. This decision likely shows the team's belief in second-round pick Jacob Rodriguez. The rookie showed that he was ready in training camp and will probably start next to Jordyn Brooks in Week 1.
Miami will look to add in the secondary
The Dolphins had to move cornerbacks Storm Duck and Darrell Baker Jr. to the reserve/PUP list, as they haven't practiced all summer. They also cut veteran cornerbacks Marco Wilson and Alex Austin after unimpressive efforts.
Miami might need to add at safety more than any other position after cutting Lonnie Johnson Jr., Louis Moore and Major Burns. Now, they have just three players in the room, and two of them are very young.
Be prepared for the Dolphins to claim at least one defensive back over the next two days.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Takeaways from Dolphins initial 53-man roster and cuts
