The Dolphins are moving on from veteran linebacker Tyrel Dodson, according to Tom Pelissero, and the decision clears the way for Miami to keep leaning into a younger option already pushing for snaps.
Dodson was in the final year of the two-year, $8.25 million deal he signed with the Dolphins last year. Miami had drafted second-round linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, and he was proving hard to keep off the field next to stalwart linebacker Jordyn Brooks, which helped set up the team’s decision to release Dodson.
It’s a notable move because Dodson still looks like a player who can start somewhere else.
Dodson, 27, entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M in 2019. He first landed with the Bills on a three-year, $1.755 million contract, though Buffalo placed him on the commissioner’s exempt list after the preseason in 2019 and he later served a six-game suspension for domestic violence.
His path with Buffalo was uneven from there, as he bounced on and off the roster for several years. Then, while testing the market as an unrestricted free agent in 2024, he signed a one-year, $4.26 million deal with the Seahawks.
Seattle waived him after nine games, and the Dolphins claimed him during the season before he finished the year in Miami. The Dolphins then brought him back on a two-year, $8.25 million contract in 2025.
Dodson made the most of his time on the field in 2025, appearing in 16 games and finishing with 129 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, five sacks, one forced fumble, one recovery, one interception and three pass defenses.
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