The Miami Dolphins have already begun some roster cuts, cutting seven players to make room for their undrafted free agents.
Roster turnover is a mainstay in the NFL, especially following the draft, as teams shuffle things around to bring in undrafted free agents. The Miami Dolphins have already begun their roster cuts, releasing seven players to make room for their UDFAs (undrafted free agents).
The full list of released players is as follows:
Long snapper Taybor Pepper and waived cornerback Isaiah Johnson, tight end Zack Kuntz, cornerback Jason Maitre, edge Derrick McLendon, inside linebacker K.C. Ossai, and punter Seth Vernon.
What to make of the Dolphins Roster Cuts
The first thing of note for the Dolphins roster cuts are both cornerbacks, Isaiah Johnson and Jason Maitre being waived. Both were given a failed physical designation due to injuries they suffered in the 2025 season.
Johnson suffered a torn ACL during practice, leading to his being placed on season-ending injured reserve. Considering the injury occurred later in the year, he has likely not fully recovered.
Similarly, Maitre suffered a torn Achilles tendon during training camp and was shut down for the entire season.
McLendon being waived is a bit of a surprise, as there was hope that he could emerge as a stronger roster player after impressing during the offseason program in 2025.
Kuntz was likely waived due to the Dolphins bringing in both Will Kacmarek and Seydou Traore. Considering they have fresh talent there, the Kuntz was the odd man out.
Vernon was thought to add some competition to the room, but it appears the punting job might now simply belong to Bradley Pinion.
Considering the Dolphins can carry up to 90 players, they wanted to bring in their huge list of undrafted free agents to see who may be competitive enough to make the 53-man roster or practice squad. Expect more cuts to occur in the coming days and weeks, as teams reshuffle their roster hopefuls.
With 13 draftees also on the roster, head coach Jeff Hafley will begin to evaluate those on the roster when OTAs kick off towards the end of the month.
Before the roster cuts took place, the Dolphins were sitting at 95, per Fox Sports. With the seven players now having been released and waived, this would place the team at 88, or 87 when considering Traore does not count towards the roster due to the International Pathway Program.
It would be expected that the Dolphins may choose to add one or two more mini camp tryouts or UDFAs to get the team right at 90, though this is just speculation.