Putting The Pieces Together

Analyzing how the Dolphins assembled their 53-man roster

- Alain Poupart

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There is no such thing as a “final” 53-man roster, and the Dolphins offered the best proof of that this year. That “final” 53-man roster they produced after the transactions prior to the 4 p.m. deadline on Aug. 31 underwent wholesale changes by the time the Dolphins kicked off their regular season schedule against the Baltimore Ravens eight days later.

A whopping 12 players on the opening-day roster — almost a fourth of the team — were added after that 4 p.m. deadline. That left the Dolphins with 33 new players from the team that took the field for the 2018 season opener against the Tennessee Titans.

The 33 newcomers this year included tight end Nick O’Leary, who joined the team midway through the 2018 season.

Work on the 2019 roster began all the way back on Jan. 1 when six players were signed to “futures contracts.” One of them was defensive back Chris Lammons, who ended up making the opening-day roster.

Conversely, the last player to join the active roster before the start of the regular season was veteran tackle J’Marcus Webb, who was signed two days before the opener against Baltimore.

We break down the biggest stories involved in the finalization of the opening-day roster.

The big deal

Any discussion of the Dolphins’ roster moves heading into the regular season has to start with the mega-trade with the Houston Texans that saw the departures of fourth-year tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills and the arrival of special teams ace Johnson Bademosi and tackle Julién Davenport, along with a trove of premium draft picks — a 1 in 2020, a 1 and a 2 in 2021.

It was the type of move made with the future in mind because no sane person would argue that this made the Dolphins better for the 2019 season.