2008 cutdown and roster additions

[YoFuggedaboutit]

OK guys, the last preseason game is over, and the "bubble" players have had their final chance to make a good impression.  That being said, several guys will be paid a visit by The Turk between now and 4:00 pm Saturday. 

Who is The Turk?

The Turk is an assistant coach who is assigned to track down players who have been released and give them the bad news.  He will either call a player or visit his dorm with the dreaded message, "Coach Sparano wants to see you immediately.  Bring your playbook with you."  At that point, the player knows he is done. 

About 18 players will be given the same message from Coach Sparano, "Thanks but no thanks."  Who will they be?  Who will barely squeak by?  Who will appear to have made it, but then get some heartbreaking news a day or two later as other teams let their guys go? 

Discuss. 

[Tenshot13]

David Martin is done, Beck is done, Hagan SHOULD be done, Cobbs is done, Maui is done, Peele is done...that's all I have...I'm not sure for the rest...anyone care to take over?

[StL FinFan]

I dunno about Cobbs.

[Philly Fin Fan]

Hagan has been solid all pre-season. He's not going anywhere, in fact he's going to be starting. As much as I don't like Martin, he's not going anywhere either. Apparently the coaching staff likes him.

Cobbs will probably stick because of special teams play.

[Tenshot13]

I know Hagan isn't going anywhere...he has been solid all training camp...yet to show up in any games though...I just personally don't like him and think he should be cut...You're prob. right on Martin because of his blocking but I agree...I don't like him either...as far as cobbs...well they have to get rid of at least one RB...cobbs was from the last regime and the two rookies played just as good as him tonight...I think Parmele will be forgiven for the fumble...so IMO that means Cobbs is gone...so does anyone want to take over on who else might now make the team?

[fyo]

Of the players who maybe had a chance, the following are on my "gone" list:

Reagan Mauia, Lex Hilliard (psquad), Armstrong (psquad), Foster (psuad), Mulligan, Heerspink, Byrne, Toribio, Glymph, Titus Brown, Poppinga and Billingsley.

The following are at serious risk of losing their job. Even those who make it past the Saturday deadline shouldn't feel safe:

Beck, McCown, Justin Peele, Sean Ryan, Lionel Dotson, Ninkovitch. Quentin Moses, Edmond Miles, Matt Spanos and Ndukwe.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

Of the players who maybe had a chance, the following are on my "gone" list:

Reagan Mauia, Lex Hilliard (psquad), Armstrong (psquad), Foster (psuad), Mulligan, Heerspink, Byrne, Toribio, Glymph, Titus Brown, Poppinga and Billingsley.

The following are at serious risk of losing their job. Even those who make it past the Saturday deadline shouldn't feel safe:

Beck, McCown, Justin Peele, Sean Ryan, Lionel Dotson, Ninkovitch. Quentin Moses, Edmond Miles, Matt Spanos and Ndukwe.

You've only got twelve people on your gone list.  Gotta add at least six more.  The big question is, do you get rid of Beck or McCown or keep both?  McCown has barely played all preseason, but Beck has clearly shown that he does not belong in the NFL. 

[fyo]

You've only got twelve people on your gone list.  Gotta add at least six more.  The big question is, do you get rid of Beck or McCown or keep both?  McCown has barely played all preseason, but Beck has clearly shown that he does not belong in the NFL. 

That's why I included the qualifier "of the players that maybe had a chance". In other words, I wasn't listing the players that never had a chance.

In practice, what I did was not include anyone who wasn't in my little spreadsheet of players. Because it's a personal project and because I'm lazy, I haven't spent any time in trying to flesh out the spreadsheet with random joes who never had a chance to make the team. Everytime a guy popped on my radar, I would add him.

The roster on nfl.com has 74 players listed right now. One of those is Kelvin Smith, who doesn't count because he's on IR. That's 73 players. Omar at the SunSentinel claimed the phins were at 71, but I'm not sure who has been released. Anyway, going by the 73, you can add the following to my list above (these were guys who never had a chance in my book):

Courtney Bryan
Maurice Fountain
Aaron Halterman
Tab Perry
Pedro Sosa

I had 12 on my GONE list. Add these 5 and we're at 17. Some of the 5 might be gone already (2 probably are), but if we go by the 73 count, that still gets us the right answer, so 3 more players need to go to reach 53. I listed 10 in my "serious risk" category. Let me clarify that a bit.

1: Either Beck and McCown. At this point I just don't know who stays.
0: At most one of Peele and Ryan, although both could stick until Monday.
0: Spanos and Ndukwe probably survive a little longer. One likely gone before the Jets game, though.
1: Either Ninkovitch, Moses or Miles. I don't know enough about either one of them to speculate.
1: Dotson probably loses out in the pure numbers game.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

That's why I included the qualifier "of the players that maybe had a chance". In other words, I wasn't listing the players that never had a chance.

In practice, what I did was not include anyone who wasn't in my little spreadsheet of players. Because it's a personal project and because I'm lazy, I haven't spent any time in trying to flesh out the spreadsheet with random joes who never had a chance to make the team. Everytime a guy popped on my radar, I would add him.

The roster on nfl.com has 74 players listed right now. One of those is Kelvin Smith, who doesn't count because he's on IR. That's 73 players. Omar at the SunSentinel claimed the phins were at 71, but I'm not sure who has been released. Anyway, going by the 73, you can add the following to my list above (these were guys who never had a chance in my book):

Courtney Bryan
Maurice Fountain
Aaron Halterman
Tab Perry
Pedro Sosa

I had 12 on my GONE list. Add these 5 and we're at 17. Some of the 5 might be gone already (2 probably are), but if we go by the 73 count, that still gets us the right answer, so 3 more players need to go to reach 53. I listed 10 in my "serious risk" category. Let me clarify that a bit.

1: Either Beck and McCown. At this point I just don't know who stays.
0: At most one of Peele and Ryan, although both could stick until Monday.
0: Spanos and Ndukwe probably survive a little longer. One likely gone before the Jets game, though.
1: Either Ninkovitch, Moses or Miles. I don't know enough about either one of them to speculate.
1: Dotson probably loses out in the pure numbers game.

Ninkovich and Dotson have probably impressed enough in the last two games to earn spots on the practice squad.  Armstrong and Foster should end up there as well as either Jalen Parmele, Lex Hilliard, or both. 

Quentin Moses needs to make the active roster as he played in too many games last year to be eligible for the practice squad.  He has shown some flashes of brilliance but needs more consistency. 

Keep in mind that teams can keep 8 players on the practice squad this year, as opposed to the usual 5. 

[fyo]

How does the practice squad work? I mean, what do guys on the squad do?

[YoFuggedaboutit]

How does the practice squad work? I mean, what do guys on the squad do?

They practice with the regular players..... and help run the scout team, imitating the oppositions plays week in and week out.  They don't get to suit up for games.  They make half of the league minimum. 

They can only be in the NFL for I believe 2-3 years, and they can't have been active for more than a certain number of games, otherwise they are not eligible.  A team can sign a player off another team's practice squad, but they must promote that player to the active roster for a minimum of three games. 

[Dave Gray]

I don't think Beck will be cut.  I think we'll keep 3 QBs and McCown is the odd-man out.

[bsfins]

The practice Squad is under 4 years of exp.,and can't be on the practice squad for more than 3 years...I can'rt remember the number of games they could be active before they can't bgo back to the practice squad...I want to say it wass 6...It was in some article I saw recently...

I'm thinking that Moses has a descent chance of sticking...We need all the LB/DE's we can get...

The TE -FB postition intrigues me....(I used to be one,but it's not the main reason....)

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/29/let_the_cutting_begin.html

Let the cutting begin

By Ben Volin | Friday, August 29, 2008, 05:07 PM

Five weeks of training camp are in the books. The four preseason games have been played. Two-a-days are done until next July.

If you’re an NFL player trying to make a roster, your fate is sealed. There is nothing you can do between now and Saturday at 4 p.m. to change your coach’s mind. Either you’re part of the 53-man roster (61 if you count practice squad), or you’re cut.

Smiles and laughter in the Dolphins locker room Thursday night quickly faded when the subject of Saturday’s roster cuts came up.

Running back Jalen Parmele was visibly shaking when we spoke about it after the Dolphins’ 14-10 win, but he also exhibited a refreshing sense of maturity and perspective.

“Obviously you want to make the team, ‘cause you’ve been here and you’re working hard. It’s your dream,” said Parmele, a rookie sixth-round pick out of Toledo. “But you know it’s a business, and they’re going to do what they’re going to do, and that’s the way it goes.”

Roster cuts aren’t due until Saturday at 4 p.m., but several NFL teams are getting a head start. Friday, the Rams cut 10 players to get down to 66 in camp. The Bears, Eagles and Saints each chopped eight from their rosters, and the Pats released four players (including former Dolphin DT Steve Fifita).

The Dolphins have gotten somewhat of a head start on the process. Though they were allowed to have as many as 80 players in camp through Aug. 26, and 75 through tomorrow, they have been around the 70-72 area for the past two weeks.

And it’s not just roster filler like OT Reuben Riley getting waived. Safety Keith Davis, supposedly one of “Bill Parcells’ guys” from Dallas, who was a special teams captain there, got cut on Wednesday. K Jay Feely got the heave-ho a couple weeks ago. Either John Beck or Josh McCown likely won’t be here much longer.

Some players who likely will be cut Saturday are fairly obvious — TE Matthew Mulligan, OLB Maurice Fountain, ILB Kelly Poppinga and WR Jayson Foster come to mind.

But Parcells and Jeff Ireland have instilled The Fear in these players. Very few players are safe. And there are probably some members of the final 53-man roster that went through training camp with another team.

“They have a certain standard of what they want,” receiver Greg Camarillo said earlier this week, “and if you don’t meet that standard they will cut you. That’s pretty much understood.”

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/30/armstrong.html

Armstrong knows he could be odd man out

By Edgar Thompson | Saturday, August 30, 2008, 11:00 AM

Dolphins wide receiver Anthony Armstrong planned to to cut off his cell phone today and try to relax.

It won’t be easy, but waiting for a dream to come true isn’t supposed to be.

Like many Dolphins, Armstrong will find out by 4 p.m. if he’s finally made to the NFL.

In a way, he’s afraid to find out whether he’s one of the 53 Dolphins who make it or one of the 17 who do not.

“I’m going to get away,” Armstrong said this week. “I want it to be as stress free a day as possible.”

But the emotions of cut day are hard to avoid for just about everyone on every team. Friendships and player-coach relationships forged during a long month of training camp are not taken lightly.

“When all of the sudden, you have to release them, there is something in that, to me that is pretty sensitive,” coach Tony Sparano said.

But on the opening day of training camp, Sparano made a point of telling his players this day was coming.

“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 recalled this week. “Some people have to go and that’s just the way it goes. It’s part of the business.”

Sitting in the audience, a 25-year-old rookie picked up from the Arena Football League, Armstrong must have wondered if Sparano was speaking about him.

But Armstrong has gone out and shown he belongs, outperforming NFL veterans and rookies fresh out of Division I programs.

While Armstrong has stuck around, three-year veteran David Kircus and two rookies BCS programs - Selwyn Lymon (Purdue) and John Dunlap (N.C. State) - have been cut.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Armstrong, who went to West Texas A&M, might be the Dolphins’ best remaining deep threat, along with Ted Ginn Jr.

A couple of weeks ago, Sparano spoke glowingly about a practice when Armstrong caught three passes longer than 50 yards. The team cut Kircus a few days later.

Armstrong is likely vying for three spots with veterans Ernest Wilford and Greg Camarillo and rookie Davone Bess.

Wilford, who signed a four-year deal with $6 million guaranteed, struggled with drops much of training camp. But he made two catches Thursday night, including a leaping, 24-yarder.

Camarillo and Bess are more sure handed and better route runners than Armstrong.

Armstrong might be the odd man out, but he’s made the Dolphins think hard about it.

A spot on the eight-man practice squad is a lock, but another team might be impressed enough to give Armstrong a shot.

Anybody can be let go at any time, we’ve been under 75 for awhile. If you don’t perform, there’s a possibility you’ll be leaving.

Even if make 53, any relief: Temporarily, but you have to understand there’s guy being let go on other teams too. As much as it is an audition for all teams in the league, you still want to stick where you started out.

What do Saturday: I’m going to get away. I might cut my phone off because I don’t want to have it ring or anything. I want it to be as stress free as possible.

“I think you start to feel and develop a little bit of a relationship with these players right now. It’s part of the business and we knew that when we started here. One of the things we did when we started here is we sat in a room and It doesn’t make it any less of a strain one way or another. You feel for the guys. This is their livelihood too.”