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Title: Dolphins cut center Steve McKinney Post by: DolFan619 on August 18, 2008, 03:20:21 pm http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-dolcut081808,0,3564538.story
Dolphins cut center Steve McKinney By Omar Kelly and Harvey Fialkov Sun-Sentinel.com 11:50 AM EDT, August 18, 2008 DAVIE - The Dolphins have released veteran center Steve McKinney, cutting ties with one of this summer's free agent additions, a player who was expected to compete for a starting guard spot. McKinney, a 10-year veteran who spent most of his career as a starter, was coming back from a ACL injury he suffered early last season. He's participated in the Dolphins' two exhibition games, but his play hasn't stood out enough to warrant a roster spot on the 53-man roster. "When we brought Steve in, we really took a look and at that this point we didn't think he was where we needed to have him so we had to move on,'' Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said Monday. Sparano said veteran Trey Darilek will get some snaps at center behind starter Samson Satele this week, as well as Mike Byrne and former USC center Matt Spanos. However, it's more realistic that both of these undrafted rookies are competing for a practice squad spot rather than one on the 53-man roster. Darilek, who plays just about every position on the offensive line, has experience playing center in the CFL last season. So McKinney, the older brother of former Dolphins center Seth McKinney, became expendable. When asked if tackle would be a primary need when teams start releasing players next week to get to a 75-man roster, Sparano gave an evasive answer. "It's safe to assume only one thing and I think we're all finding it's not going to stay the same,'' he said of the evolving roster. "Our players know when they compete they're competing against players on our team and from other teams. Whatever we have to do to make this team better, we'll do it.'' Ikechuku Ndukwe, who is presently serving as the backup left tackle, also has experience playing center. And the Dolphins might also shop for one on the waiver wire in the coming weeks. Teams must trim their training camp roster to 75 players by Aug. 26, and get it down to 53 players on Aug. 30th. With McKinney's release, the Dolphins presently have 74 players in camp. |