Going into Saturday, the Dolphins knew they needed to trim their roster to 53 players by 4 p.m. Eastern time. Finally, the names of the players the team released are official.
Miami waived the following players
Name Position Height Weight Birthdate Exp. College
James Burgess LB 6-0 233 3/9/94 R Louisville ‘16
Deandre Coleman DT 6-5 341 1/27/91 1 California ‘14
Jamil Douglas G 6-4 308 2/28/92 2 Arizona State ‘15
Thomas Duarte TE 6-2 241 3/30/95 R UCLA ‘16
Zac Dysert QB 6-3 223 2/8/90 2 Miami (Ohio) ‘13
Shamiel Gary S 6-0 217 5/31/90 2 Oklahoma State ‘14
Tyler Gray LB 6-4 236 2/17/93 R Boise State ‘16
A.J. Hendy S 6-0 209 4/8/93 R Maryland ‘16
Ulrick John T 6-5 307 5/20/92 3 Georgia State ‘14
Chris Jones DT 6-1 293 7/12/90 4 Bowling Green ‘13
Cleyon Laing DE 6-4 299 11/21/90 1 Iowa State ‘13
Rashaan Melvin CB 6-2 193 10/2/89 3 Northern Illinois ‘13
Lafayette Pitts CB 5-11 196 9/24/92 R Pittsburgh ‘16
Cedric Reed DE 6-5 269 10/9/92 1 Texas ’15
Rashawn Scott WR 6-2 204 1/29/92 1 Miami (Fla.) ‘16
Jordan Williams DE 6-4 276 3/23/93 1 Tennessee ‘15
Miami also announced they released cornerback Chimdi Chekwa, linebacker James Michael-Johnson, Dominque Jones, Daniel Thomas and Sam Young. The team also placed cornerback Chris Culliver on the physically unable to perform list, which means he cannot practice or play for the first six weeks of the season.
For those who don’t know, a player that has less than four years of NFL service that is terminated goes through waivers. A veteran player that is released with more than four years of NFL experience can sign with any of the 32 teams immediately, while a player that is waived has to wait for a certain time period before he can sign with any team.
The most noticeable names on the list of players who were released or waived are Jamil Douglas, Daniel Thomas and Thomas Duarte.
Douglas, who was drafted by the Dolphins in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, started six games for the team at guard and at center last season. The former Arizona State Sun Devil didn’t perform well in his starts last season and the new coach staff led by Dolphins head coach Adam Gase rarely used Douglas with the first or second-team offense during the preseason and training camp.
Thomas was released in his third stint with the Dolphins. He received some playing time during training camp and in the preseason, but he could not move above Arian Foster, Jay Ajayi, Kenyan Drake, Damien Williams and Isaiah Pead on the depth chart.
Duarte was the only member of the 2016 draft class that did not make the Dolphins roster. The seventh-round pick recorded 53 catches for 872 yards and 10 touchdowns as a member the UCLA Bruins in 2015.
