The Miami Dolphins didn’t just come out of Week 1 with a loss to the Raiders. They also came out with a roster that still feels very much in motion.
That’s been the theme under new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, who has wasted no time turning over the bottom of the roster. After the initial cuts, Miami claimed seven players off waivers - more than any other NFL team - and even added a surprising name to the quarterback room. And with free agents signed after Week 1 not guaranteed any money, the churn may not be slowing down now that the season is underway.
If Sullivan is looking for more reinforcements, there are a few familiar kinds of names worth watching: former high draft picks who haven’t quite hit their ceiling yet, but still carry enough upside to make sense for a team that needs help in a few spots.
Evan Neal fits that mold. Drafted No. 7 overall by the New York Giants in 2022, he’s now on the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad after being released.
Neal entered the league as a tackle, but his professional career has looked better at guard. That kind of flexibility would appeal to Miami, especially with second-year lineman Jonah Savaiinaea showing real growth this offseason, even if that progress still hasn’t been fully reflected in games.
If Savaiinaea’s issues return, Neal could end up being more than just emergency depth.
Cody Ford brings a similar appeal. He was a late-August cut by the Cincinnati Bengals and remains unsigned, despite trying out for the Buffalo Bills, the team that drafted him in the early second round in 2019.
Like Neal, Ford can move around the line, and that versatility is part of both his value and his problem. He’s never quite settled into one spot long enough to lock down a starting job.
Even so, he’d give Miami a useful swing tackle option.
On the defensive side, Azeez Ojulari is another practice-squad name on the Raiders who could draw attention. The Dolphins can always use more help up front, but the larger issue is the defense as a whole, especially on the line and in the secondary.
Edge rusher remains a shaky spot. Miami is hoping Chop Robinson can build on his rookie season and carry over the dominance he showed this offseason, but his first game didn’t ease any concerns.
The Dolphins also signed Malik Herring outright in hopes that he can develop into a starter, yet the depth still looks thin enough that this could be a position Miami targets early in the 2027 draft. Ojulari, who has already shown he can get after the quarterback, would at least bring some upside now.
Jeff Okudah is another former top pick who could make sense, and he comes with something the others on this list don’t: a prior connection to Jeff Hafley. Okudah went No. 3 overall to the Detroit Lions in 2020 after a standout run at Ohio State in 2019, when Hafley was the Buckeyes’ co-defensive coordinator.
Okudah even credited Hafley for his breakout junior season before the draft. Injuries and other setbacks have slowed his career, but a familiar voice could matter here.
Miami’s secondary may be in even rougher shape than its defensive line, and at a low-risk price, Okudah would be a worthwhile swing if he can recover even part of the talent that once made him the top cornerback in his class.
Then there’s Darnell Savage, the former Green Bay Packer who probably had to make this list by sheer logic alone. His fit in Hafley’s defense isn’t as clean as some of the others, and that’s part of why their paths never actually crossed in Green Bay.
Still, Savage is a former first-round pick, has ties to Sullivan from their time together in Green Bay, and plays a position Miami badly needs help at. Drafted by the Packers in 2019, he stayed there through 2023 before leaving in free agency when his contract expired.
After bouncing around since then and being released by the Pittsburgh Steelers in August, he’s now searching for the right landing spot. Miami could offer that, and Sullivan’s familiarity with him might make the match easier to justify.
In Other News...
Dolphins Keep Making Roster Moves For A Bigger 2026 Plan
The Dolphins have been busy carving out breathing room on the books, with a series of salary cap conversions involving Zach Sieler, Greg Dulcich, Austin Jackson and JuJu Brents creating roughly $2.5 million in extra space. Miami now sits at about $8.8 million in cap room, a modest cushion on paper but one that comes with the weight of more than $180 million in dead cap already sitting on the ledger, including Tua Tagovailoas $55 million figure.
Tyrel Dodsons release added another layer to the picture, saving about $3 million and reinforcing that every move right now is being made with both the roster and the future in mind. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan pointed to financial and roster considerations in the decision, which fits a broader approach that looks less like a short-term patch job and more like a team trying to keep its options open well beyond this season. [Read more 🡒]
Fitzpatrick Just Doubled Down On A Brutal Dolphins Warning
Ryan Fitzpatrick has never been shy about his opinions, and he brought the same bluntness back to the Dolphins this week. The former Miami quarterback, now an Amazon Prime analyst, stood by the preseason warning he made about the 2026 season, pointing to a roster he believes still has major hurdles in front of it. He framed the discussion around the kind of difficult year that can snowball early, especially when a team is trying to navigate a schedule that offers little room for error.
Fitzpatrick drew a line back to the 2019 Dolphins, a group that opened 0-7 before finding enough answers to win five games, and he used that season as a reminder that even a rocky start does not always define the finish. But he also noted the burden of dead cap space left behind by former core players, which only adds to the challenge ahead. For all the doom in his outlook, Fitzpatrick still left a sliver of optimism, hoping the coaches and players can keep the season from ever reaching the bleak outcome he floated. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Are Catching A 49ers Team Far From Full Strength
The 49ers are still sorting through the fallout from their season opener, and the injury list has already started to reshape the depth chart. Tight end Jake Tonges landed on injured reserve after hurting his knee in the opener, while San Francisco also added wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge to the active roster and brought tight end Jack Stoll onto the practice squad as it tries to keep enough bodies available at key spots.
For Miami, that matters because the Dolphins are catching a San Francisco team that is already dealing with more than one hole before the matchup fully gets into gear. Rookie wideout DeZhaun Stribling was also placed on injured reserve with a deltoid sprain, joining Ricky Pearsall and Alfred Collins among the names the 49ers are trying to work around, leaving the roster thinner and the margin for error smaller. [Read more 🡒]