The Dolphins’ decision to move on from Mazi Smith is a pretty sharp snapshot of where this defensive tackle room stands right now.
Smith arrived in Miami with a long NFL paper trail already behind him. He was taken 26th overall by the Cowboys in 2023, and he opened his career with 20 starts over his first two seasons.
But the ride turned fast after that. Dallas dealt him to the Jets as part of the Quinnen Williams trade, and that stop didn’t last long either.
He spent half of last year in New York, wasn’t kept beyond training camp, and then Miami claimed him off waivers on September 1.
That chance has already run out. The Dolphins activated Smith from the practice squad on October 3, then sent him right back there a couple days after the game.
On Wednesday, they released him from the practice squad, and there doesn’t seem to be much expectation of a return. Smith is now headed to free agency, still without a clear answer on where he’ll land next.
The larger message is hard to miss: if a player can’t stick in Miami right now, the room is under a microscope. The Dolphins haven’t said exactly what went wrong, but the gap between practice and game day clearly mattered, and Smith is now the latest example of that disconnect.
Head coach Jeff Hafley was blunt after the Week 5 loss to the Bengals that this is a time to take stock across the board. “I think it will be a good time for us to look hard and evaluate the players, evaluate the scheme, evaluate how we’re coaching, evaluate what certain guys can do, and take a hard look and then come back and go back to work,” Jeff Hafley said to the media after their Week 5 loss to the Bengals.
“It’s going to be who we are. We’re going to roll up our sleeves, and this group’s going to work.
And I know that they’re going to.”
Smith is only one piece of that broader roster shuffle, but it’s a telling one. Miami has limited options, so a major swing feels unlikely, and a veteran trade before the deadline looks highly unlikely as well. For now, the Dolphins are trying to sort out what they have, develop it, and figure out why some players, Smith included, simply aren’t fitting the picture Hafley is trying to build.
In Other News...
Dolphins Face A Draft Dilemma Bigger Than Jeremiah Smith
Miamis draft conversation already feels bigger than one blue-chip receiver. Sitting third in the 2027 order, the Dolphins are in a position that could reshape the franchise, and ESPNs Football Power Index has them with a 49 percent chance to wind up with the No. 1 overall pick. That kind of draft capital invites fantasies about Ohio State star Jeremiah Smith, but it also forces a wider look at what actually changes a teams ceiling.
The history lesson matters here: teams that win it all usually do so by landing premium quarterbacks or impact players at positions with broader value, not by getting locked into one name at the top of the board. For Miami, that leaves a real decision coming into focus, one that could point toward a quarterback, a different cornerstone, or even a move down if the board and the market break the right way. Smith is the headline-grabbing option, but he may not be the most consequential one. [Read more 🡒]
Malik Willis Just Added More Tension To A Brutal Dolphins Loss
The Dolphins loss to Cincinnati already had enough frustration attached to it, and Malik Willis added another layer of noise afterward. Bengals safety Jordan Battle came away with two interceptions and seven tackles in the game, then suggested he had picked up on a clue in Willis throwing motion that helped him jump routes.
Willis pushed back on that idea, saying he does not have a tell before he throws and pointing to other reasons for Battles interceptions. For Miami, it is the kind of postgame detail that lingers because it touches on execution, scouting and confidence all at once, with the final word in the back-and-forth still hanging in the air. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Could Have A Trade Deadline Decision Fans Wont Ignore
The trade deadline is bringing an extra layer of intrigue to Miamis edge-rusher picture, with Josh Uche drawing attention as a player other teams could try to pry loose. Uche spent time in New England before landing with the Dolphins, and he remains viewed as a talented rotational defender who can help a pass rush without needing to carry a full-time workload.
For Miami, the bigger question is whether he fits into the long-term plan at all, especially with free agency looming in the spring. The Patriots have been mentioned as a team with interest in a reunion, and even without any official move on the board yet, that kind of connection is the sort of deadline storyline Dolphins fans will be watching closely. [Read more 🡒]