The Miami Dolphins came out of roster cutdown day with a cornerback room that still looks shaky, and the late waiver additions didn’t do much to change that.
Miami opened with only five corners on its initial 53-man roster, then cut that number down a day later by waiving Ethan Bonner and A.J. Green.
In their place, the Dolphins claimed Marcellas Dial and Reese Taylor, but neither move really changes the outlook. The team is still leaning hard on young, unproven players just to piece together a workable group.
That’s a problem because the top of the depth chart is still unsettled. Chris Johnson, the first-round pick, is expected to start the season as Miami’s best cornerback, even though he has not played a single NFL regular-season snap.
The bigger question is who lines up on the other side. JuJu Brents is the leading candidate on paper, but he spent nearly all of camp dealing with injury and only recently got back on the practice field.
If he can’t hold up, Jason Marshall Jr. becomes the next man up. His camp, though, hasn’t matched the second-year expectations many fans had for him.
Beyond those three, the picture gets ugly fast.
Bonner’s preseason performances were poor enough to cost him a roster spot, though he could still circle back on the practice squad. Miami had not added him there at the time of this writing. Green, meanwhile, had a solid camp and seemed to deserve to stick, but he was also released on Monday and could likewise end up on the practice squad.
If the Dolphins are serious about stabilizing this position, they still need to keep a close eye on every waiver move. At this point, they should be looking for any help they can get.
One name that stands out is Kader Kohou, who was released by the Chiefs before their final preseason game and has not signed elsewhere. A return would instantly improve the depth and give Jeff Hafley a workable nickleback.
Dial and Taylor don’t look like answers for now. Dial has not played a snap since 2024, when he appeared in 17 games and started one. Taylor has spent the last two seasons with the Broncos, but his resume is thin: five total games and two tackles.
Neither player projects as a starter, and there’s no real reason to expect either to provide reliable depth right away. For a Dolphins team that chose to keep its secondary young and inexperienced, that leaves a major issue hanging over the roster unless a better solution turns up soon.
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