Dolphins roster moves and what they mean

The Dolphins have announced the roster moves which got them to the mandated 53 man roster:

WAIVED: CB Vincent Agnew, TE Brett Brackett, WR Patrick Carter, G Garrett Chisolm, QB Pat Devlin, TE Dedrick Epps, LB Jonathan Freeny, RB Nic Grigsby, T D.J. Jones, T Matt Kopa, WR Phillip Livas, WR John Matthews, CB Nate Ness, LB David Nixon, QB Kevin O’ Connell, WR Julius Pruitt, S Mark Restelli, LB Robert Rose, TE Mickey Shuler, LB Quinton Spears.

CONTRACTS TERMINATED: S Gerald Alexander, CB Will Allen, NT Ronald Fields, RB Larry Johnson, FB Lousaka Polite,T Ray Willis.

PLACED ON INJURED RESERVE: T Lydon Murtha. A source tells me Murtha suffered a torn ligament in a toe.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Dolphins are at 53 players and some that made it today might not be on the team in a couple of days. The Dolphins are right now searching for a No. 3 QB -- which, by the way, may be a kid added to the practice squad. They have six WRs on the roster so that might be a position where movement yet happens. The club kept six DEs but only three RBs. All this raises questions and makes it clear this team is not complete.

The Dolphins kept Jeron Mastrud over Shuler. Also, John Jerry, a disappointment this camp, makes the team anyway. I suppose the draft pick investment in Jerry from a year ago -- a third rounder -- and the fact he's so young has saved him.

The Dolphins kept 10 linebackers -- five inside linebackers and five outside linebackers.

The Dolphins kept none of their undrafted rookie free agents.

It seems that rookie Frank Kearse beat out the veteran Fields for the backup NT job. That is not quite right, in my opinion. Fields is better than Kearse today. But the Dolphins can always move Randy Starks to NT if starter Paul Soliai is injured for any significant amount of time. So in fact, it seems Fields was not able to beat out Starks for the backup job. Kearse is a project but he's shown flashes and he's a fighter.

By the way, Chester Taylor was cut today by the Chicago Bears. Brandon Meriweather was cut by the New England Patriots. Because both have at least four seasons of experience, they become unrestricted free agents right away. They do not go on the waiver wire to be picked up by whichever team claims them. I hope the Dolphins are on the phone with somebody right now!

The biggest surprise of all this news has to be the cutting of Polite. Tony Sparano gushed about Polite and talked of how you couldn't find legit FBs in today's NFL anymore. He said Polite was one of those valuable guys and said how it would take a lot to convince him Polite had to go.

Well, he got convinced. I do know this, Polite was one of the top 53 on this team. He was a good locker room guy, also. Obviously, the Dolphins found reasons that overcame those assets. He was expensive in that he was going to cost $1.45 million against the cap. The Dolphins save $1.35 million by cutting him. This was the final year of his contract.

I suppose it is possible Polite is signed after the first week of the season at a discount and also without a guarantee for the entire year. But I also think other teams might show some interest in him.

Finally, I cannot stress enough that this does not end the moving and shaking of the Dolphins roster. This is mediocre team by most accounts. It has much work yet to do to be among the NFL's elite. I assume the front office is busy doing some of that work as we speak.

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