With the Miami Dolphins welcoming back veteran cornerback Xavien Howard to the active roster, the team bid farewell to two players yesterday in their continued preparations for the 2020 NFL season. Miami’s addition of Howard provides a big boost in the cornerback room — that is, of course, presuming Howard is able to get fit for the start of the season. And with his return, the team deemed young cornerback Picasso Nelson Jr. expendable; he was one of the Dolphins’ two cuts yesterday.
Miami’s other cut came up front, with the team bidding farewell to popular undrafted free agent Donell Stanley from South Carolina. There were some who expected Stanley to make a splash with the offensive line hungry Dolphins, but the transition of Michael Deiter to center and the sturdy flashes of rookie Solomon Kindley at right guard has helped provide a big boost to the Dolphins’ prospect up front.
The Dolphins won’t have much time before they need to cut their roster all the way down to 53 players, so every rep from this point on counts to help with that evaluation process. For the Dolphins, they’ve apparently seen enough of Stanley and Nelson Jr. to know that there will be better options on the roster to fill out those final few spots.
After significant investments at both positions this offseason, Miami is well positioned to see both groups become eventual strengths of this team. Player development can’t be assumed, but at the very least Miami has put in the resources to become a sturdy roster both on the back end of the defense and on the front lines of the offense. Unfortunately for both young players, they won’t be a part of that recipe this season.
