Dolphins Camp — Sep 3: Sullivan Claimed Seven in a Day

Miami set its 53 on Sunday and rebuilt it on Monday. The team claimed seven players off waivers — the count as the team's own writer, Travis Wingfield, states it, "eight new players, including seven waiver claims" — and cut eight to make room, per the Dolphins' announcement. In: quarterback Brady Cook from the Jets, cornerbacks Marcellas Dial Jr. from New England and Reese Taylor from Denver, tackles Chukwuebuka Godrick from Kansas City and Jarrett Kingston from Houston, tight end Justin Joly from Denver, safety Julius Wood from Dallas, and edge rusher Malik Herring, signed as a free agent after Tennessee released him — Jordan Schultz reported the Dolphins "badly wanted to add him once he became available," per Brian Miller at Phin Phanatic. Out: edge Clelin Ferrell and cornerback A.J. Green III released; cornerback Ethan Bonner, tackle Marques Cox, receiver AJ Henning, edge Max Llewellyn and lineman Josh Priebe waived; tight end Ben Sims waived with an injury designation. Llewellyn was the team's 2026 seventh-round pick — and Alain Poupart at Dolphins On SI had written Sunday that all 13 draft picks made the team, counting Trey Moore starting on injured reserve, the most in franchise history. That stood for one day.

Jon-Eric Sullivan's first cut-day press conference as general manager explained the churn as policy, per the team's transcript: "we look at ourselves honestly and that any chance we get to get better, we're going to get better." And, per Wingfield: "My job to keep turning over rocks and make sure that we're trying to fortify this roster at every opportunity that we can." The claims Tyler Carmona at Dolphins On SI thinks matter: Joly, a fifth-round Denver pick who was first-team all-conference at N.C. State and caught an 88-yard touchdown in Denver's preseason finale before being waived; Godrick, who started three games for Kansas City last season; Kingston, who plays guard and tackle. Shayne Kubas at Phin Phanatic reads the three defensive-back claims as thin résumés — Dial Jr. "barely played at all or just played on special teams" — and Godrick as the one who "actually started three games for the Chiefs in 2025 and looked capable." Jeff Hafley, on Tuesday, said he was "excited to get them out on the field today and work with them," and called Wood a "physical, live body" off the tape — "I thought he played really hard," per the team's site. The question our last episode closed on — whether the eight-defensive-back roster gets reinforcements before the Raiders — answered itself in a day: five cornerbacks and four safeties after Monday, per Poupart's breakdown.

The quarterback room changed shape four times in four days: Quinn Ewers out Saturday, Kyle McCord in Sunday, Cook claimed Monday — who as a rookie last season started and lost four games for the Jets, two touchdowns against seven interceptions, per Carmona — and Mark Gronowski, re-signed to the practice squad Monday, released from it Tuesday. Hafley on the order, per the team's site: "I think we traded for McCord to be the backup. I thought he had a really good training camp," while Cook "is not just going to go away." Sullivan on the two: McCord is "a keep the train on the tracks kind of guy," and of Cook, "Brady's the ultimate competitor. Tough as nails, got a lot of swag, if you will." We told you Hafley's "I do" on keeping two quarterbacks was borne out. It was, for a day. It is three now.

The practice squad took nine of Sunday's cuts and three of Monday's eight, and it turned over twice while it was being built. Nine on Monday, per the team: tackle Gottlieb Ayedze and safety Major Burns from the Houston Gamblers of the United Football League, tight end Jeremiah Franklin, quarterback Gronowski, running back Jarquez Hunter — acquired from the Rams Thursday, waived Sunday without a practice, back Monday — edge Rodney McGraw, receiver Jalen Reagor, 64 games across five seasons, inside linebacker Cam Riley, and running back Carlos Washington Jr., whom we told you went out three days after Hafley praised him. Then Tuesday, eight more: inside linebacker Liam Anderson, Ferrell — the fourth overall pick of 2019, released from the 53 Monday, whose status Poupart called "pretty mysterious" after an undisclosed injury sidelined him — edge Amari Gainer, defensive lineman Jordan Miller, receiver Will Sheppard, cornerback Jaylin Simpson, defensive lineman Mazi Smith, tight end Tre Watson; Gronowski released. Then later Tuesday: Bonner and Llewellyn signed, Franklin and Riley released. 16 today, per the team's roster page. Kubas made Llewellyn the only one of the 13 draft picks not to make the roster; he is on the squad.

The reserve list from Sunday holds, per the team's announcement: cornerbacks Darrell Baker Jr. and Storm Duck on the reserve physically-unable-to-perform list, defensive lineman Kenneth Grant and edge Trey Moore on injured reserve with return designations — out of the opener by rule, no return date reported. Hafley on Grant, per the team: "I'm hopeful. I was hoping that he wouldn't have to go on the injured reserve." Sims cleared waivers and reverted to injured reserve. The Sunday ledger we gave you — 13 waived, nine released, and 12 waived Saturday — matches the team's announcements exactly. One correction to the page: we tied Tyrel Dodson's release to a Jordyn Brooks extension that stood on one byline; Josh Alper at Pro Football Talk reports the extension as a three-year deal signed in July, real but a month before cutdown, so it cannot be read as a cut-weekend cause. Sullivan on Dodson, per the transcript: "T. Dot's a pro, he competed. I think it was a fair competition." No signing has been reported for him.

Brooks himself, Wednesday, per Alper: "I don't think any of our opponents respect us. So, 100 percent underdog mindset and I think that's always the best position to be in. We're going to carry that mindset into the season, have that 'us against the world' mentality." The Raiders named Kirk Cousins their Week 1 starter Wednesday, per Myles Simmons at Pro Football Talk, with Fernando Mendoza, the first pick of the draft, taking reps behind him, and Ashton Jeanty did not practice Wednesday with the ankle he sprained August 23, though Klint Kubiak was optimistic.

Back in July we previewed Miami's season as an audition — 45 million guaranteed to a quarterback with six career starts, so the franchise could buy information nobody else has. The floor under it, from last season: seven and 10, an offense that ranked 20-second in expected points added per play — the measure of how much each snap moved the expected score — and a defense 20-sixth. Cut day committed to the premise and made the sample cleaner. This week made the roster around the sample deeper, at the cost of treating Sunday's 53 as a draft: seven claims, eight cuts, a practice squad built and rebuilt in two days, and a general manager who says turning over rocks is the job. The audition read holds. The stage crew changed.

Next is the Raiders, Sunday, September 13, at Allegiant Stadium. What to watch: whether Cousins faces a Miami secondary with three defensive backs who were on other rosters when the 53 was set, and whether Ferrell — week to week with an undisclosed injury when Miami released him — is available to that defense at all. The Recap follows the game.

_Data via nflverse._