Dolfan Radio | Roster Deadline
By Brad Michaels • August 30, 2026
They did not keep a backup. They bought one. In 24 hours Jon-Eric Sullivan traded Quinn Ewers, waived Cam Miller and Mark Gronowski, and spent a 2028 sixth-round pick on Kyle McCord. Same draft slot they just got from Jacksonville. Different quarterback. That is the first 53 in one sentence.
Cutdown Sunday is supposed to be housekeeping. This one was a statement.
Ewers went to the Jaguars on Saturday for a 2028 sixth-round pick. On Sunday the Dolphins sent a 2028 sixth to Green Bay for McCord — a 2025 Eagles sixth-rounder who sat on Philadelphia’s practice squad as a rookie, signed a futures deal in Green Bay, and threw four touchdowns in the Packers’ preseason finale. Miller and Gronowski were waived the same day. Malik Willis is the starter. McCord is the backup. Everybody else from that room is gone.
I thought Ewers had earned the in-house job. Three starts at the end of 2025. A 1–2 record that was not pretty, but it was starting film. A groin that wrecked his August. The new staff watched that tape, watched camp, and decided the seventh-rounder this building drafted was not their guy. Fair. Cold. Clear.
McCord has never taken an NFL regular-season snap. He also has never been asked to learn Bobby Slowik’s offense on a two-week clock before Las Vegas. That is the trade. Sullivan used to work in Green Bay. Jeff Hafley called defenses there. They were not going to let McCord hit the waiver wire and hope they were 11th in line.
The quarterback move is the headline. The rest of the list is the rebuild without the press-conference language.
Tyrel Dodson is out. Jacob Rodriguez is in. Dodson started 16 games last year and stacked 119 tackles. His 2026 salary was not guaranteed. Rodriguez, a second-round rookie, won the job next to Jordyn Brooks. That is Hafley’s defense picking the kid over the veteran who already knew the building.
Jarquez Hunter lasted three days. Miami sent Tutu Atwell to the Rams for him late last week and waived him Sunday. Either the fit was wrong on arrival or four backs was one too many next to De’Von Achane, Jaylen Wright, and Ollie Gordon II. You do not flip a trade that fast unless the room told you something.
The receiver room is young on purpose. Jalen Reagor, Terrace Marshall Jr., Theo Wease Jr., and Donaven McCulley are off. Malik Washington is the longest-tenured name left. Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, and Kevin Coleman Jr. are the draft class. A.J. Henning and Jalen Tolbert are the other adults. Slowik asked for speed. Sullivan gave him a developmental room and kept Achane as the entire offense if the pass game stalls.
The front seven is thinner than the scheme paper. Kenneth Grant and Trey Moore went on injured reserve. Cameron Goode, David Ojabo, Matthew Butler, and Rodney McGraw were released. Zach Sieler and Chop Robinson have to be the defense in Week 1 at Allegiant. Grant was supposed to be the interior piece next to Sieler. He will not be there September 13.
Storm Duck and Darrell Baker Jr. moved to reserve/PUP. They do not count on the 53 and they will not play the first four games. The secondary was already the soft spot. It is softer tonight — and thinner than our first pass at this list.
Joe Schad has the corner room right: Chris Johnson, JuJu Brents, Jason Marshall Jr., Ethan Bonner, and A.J. Green III. We had Brents, Bonner, and Green and stopped there. That missed the first-round pick (Johnson) and last year’s fifth-rounder (Marshall). The safeties on the 53 are Dante Trader Jr., Zayne Anderson, and Michael Taaffe. Eight defensive backs. Two more corners sitting on PUP. That is a young room asked to play right now.
Assembled from the club’s Sunday transactions. Waiver claims process Monday at 1 p.m. ET. This list can still move.
| Pos | On the 53 |
|---|---|
| QB | Malik Willis, Kyle McCord |
| RB | De’Von Achane, Jaylen Wright, Ollie Gordon II, D.J. Herman |
| WR | Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, Kevin Coleman Jr., A.J. Henning, Ryan Miller |
| TE | Greg Dulcich, Will Kacmarek, Ben Sims, Seydou Traore |
| OL | Patrick Paul, Austin Jackson, Aaron Brewer, Jonah Savaiinaea, Kadyn Proctor, Caedan Wallace, D.J. Campbell, Andrew Meyer, Josh Priebe, Marques Cox |
| DL / EDGE | Zach Sieler, Jordan Phillips, Zeek Biggers, Keith Cooper Jr., Chop Robinson, Josh Uche, Clelin Ferrell, Robert Beal Jr., Max Llewellyn |
| LB | Jordyn Brooks, Jacob Rodriguez, Kyle Louis, Willie Gay Jr., Ronnie Harrison Jr., Jackson Woodard |
| CB | Chris Johnson, JuJu Brents, Jason Marshall Jr., Ethan Bonner, A.J. Green III |
| S | Dante Trader Jr., Zayne Anderson, Michael Taaffe |
| ST | Riley Patterson (K), Bradley Pinion (P), Tucker Addington (LS) |
Riley Patterson is the kicker. Bradley Pinion is the punter. Tucker Addington is the long snapper. As of Sunday night, Miami had not added anyone via waivers.
Week 1 is September 13 at the Raiders. That is still the one game on this schedule that looks like a football game instead of a measuring stick. After that it is San Francisco, then Patrick Mahomes at Hard Rock.
Willis will have a backup who has not practiced in Miami. The receivers are a draft class with name tags. The run game is Achane and whoever is healthy behind him. The defense is Sieler, Chop, Brooks, and a rookie linebacker who just beat out a 119-tackle starter.
That is not a finished roster. It is an opening bid. Sullivan will hit the wire tomorrow like every other general manager. If they claim a corner or a rusher, it will be an addition, not a rewrite. The rewrite already happened in the quarterback room.
They told you what they think of the players they inherited. They paid a future sixth to say it out loud.
The 1993 piece stays in the featured slot until this team wins a game. After today, that wait feels honest.
Who did they get right on this 53 — and who is the first name off if the waiver wire coughs something up? Leave it in the comments.