No rest in final test for Dolphins' roster

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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-flspdolphins28sbaug28,0,3680756.story

No rest in final test for Dolphins' roster

By Harvey Fialkov
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

August 28, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - Most NFL coaches believe the final exhibition game is nothing more than a meaningless nuisance and would prefer practicing an extra week rather than risking injuries to front-line players.

That's not the case for Dolphins coach Tony Sparano, who said he needs tonight's exhibition finale against the New Orleans Saints to make final determinations on at least 18 players who face the Turk's axe as teams get down to 53 by Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.

"It tells you, you better go out and prove yourself," said safety Keith Davis earlier this week. "This could be your last chance to showcase your skills and ability, not only to us, but to any other team out there.

"You can't relax because this is one of those businesses where either you show up and perform every day or they'll have someone in here as fast as they got you here."

Perhaps Davis, 29, saw it coming. Despite having played for the current Dolphins regime in Dallas, Davis, a free-agent acquisition last March, didn't even get that last chance as he was cut late Wednesday afternoon.

There were slim pickings on the waiver wire Tuesday because teams only had to get down from 75 to 70 instead of about 88 players to 75 last year when rosters included exempt players from the now-defunct NFL Europa. Sparano indicated that he, General Manager Jeff Ireland and Vice President of Football Operations Bill Parcells are more interested in Saturday's transactions.

"The bottom part of the roster is going to be critical for us," Sparano said. "If there's somebody that we're interested in bringing to the team right now ... we just want to make sure maybe that it was Player 54 for another team that we're trying to get."

Because of their 1-15 record in 2007, the Dolphins have first dibs on waived players with less than four years experience. It's no secret that despite signing rookie tackle Pedro Sosa on Monday, the Dolphins still need offensive-line depth and possibly a veteran receiver.

"The Dolphins will look for players that fit the profile," said Michael Lombardi, former NFL personnel executive now working for Nationalfootballpost.com. "Young, big, tough and have potential for development. Like all teams in the NFL right now, they will be looking for offensive linemen and tight ends."

While Sparano said he wants to get another look at his projected starters tonight, the bulk of the playing time will go to the battlers on the bubble such as tight ends Justin Peelle and Sean Ryan, and receivers Anthony Armstrong and Greg Camarillo, whom the Dolphins acquired on waivers from the Chargers after last year's final cut.

"It's an audition for all the other teams, but you still want to stick with the team you started with," Armstrong said. "I might cut my phone off and try to stay as stress-free as possible on Saturday's dreaded cut day."

Defensive end Rodrique Wright and fullback Boomer Grigsby both agreed that their only focus is the task at hand.

"If you're the type of player who wonders if they belong or if you should be here, then you won't be here very long," Grigsby said. "That's the NFL, no matter where you're at."

Scouts' jobs are also on the line as they attempt to turn another team's garbage into Dolphins treasures.

"One of the things we did when we started here is we sat in a room and I said, 'Look around you; there's 80 of you, but there's not going to be 80 of you—there's going to be 53 when this things ends,'" Sparano said. "Some people have to go, and that's just the way it goes. It's part of the business. It doesn't make it any less of a strain one way or another. You feel for the guys. This is their livelihood too."