The Miami Dolphins have released veteran cornerback Byron Maxwell and signed quarterback David Fales.
Fales, who was with the Dolphins for all of training camp, will serve as Matt Moore's backup until Jay Cutler recovers from the rib injury he suffered in Miami's 31-28 win over the New York Jets on Sunday.
Maxwell had fallen out of favor in Miami the past couple of weeks after being benched in favor of rookie cornerback Cordrea Tankersley a month ago.
The Dolphins were moving forward with Tankersley and Xavien Howard as the team's two starting boundary cornerbacks. Because Maxwell wasn't a solid special teams contributor, he wasn't active for the past four games.
Maxwell was working with Miami's scout team until suffering a foot injury two weeks ago.
Granting Maxwell his release allows the cornerback Miami traded for in the 2016 offseason to sign with another team, and the Dolphins will actually save money because his $8.5 million salary will be offset by his new deal.
The Dolphins were expected to release Maxwell next offseason to avoid paying him his $10 million salary.
But when the Dolphins traded with the Eagles to acquire him and Kiko Alonso, they restructured his contract, guaranteeing him $5 million of his 2017 salary. That full allotment hasn't been paid yet.
However, the Dolphins needed the roster spot to add a quarterback. The other cornerbacks and safeties that could have been released were all younger and less expensive players that contributed on special teams.
With Maxwell gone, Miami will have to rely on Alterraun Verner as the primary backup for Howard, Tankersley and Bobby McCain, the team's starting nickel.
