Dolphins Notes: Alonso, Hurns, Walton

The Dolphins are on the goal line for a new deal with wide receiver Jakeem Grant. When finalized, the new four-year deal will take Grant through the 2023 season, giving the Fins serious ability and stability on special teams.

Though he only ranks as the team’s WR4, Grant averaged 13.6 yards per punt return and 29.7 yards per return on kickoffs. The Dolphins might not be a world-class team in 2019, but they’ll have one of the game’s best return weapons for years to come.

Here’s the latest from Miami:

• The Dolphins’ roster crunch will be an interesting one to monitor, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. Among the vets that could be dropped: wide receivers Allen Hurns and Isaiah Ford, linebackers Kiko Alonso and Raekwon McMillan, and right tackle Jordan Mills. An Alonso release, of course, would be a shock, though a club source declined to assure Jackson of his job security. Releasing Alonso would carry $8.2MM in dead money with just $25K in cap savings, but would save Miami $4MM in cash. Meanwhile, trading Alonso would save $7MM against the cap with just $1.3MM in dead money. Despite his past accomplishments, trading Alonso would be no easy task – the team acquiring him would be on the hook for his entire $6.5MM base salary, including the $2.5MM that became guaranteed in March.
• Dolphins running back Mark Walton will serve no further jail time for his three 2019 arrests, as Barry Jackson and Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald write. Under the terms of his plea deal, Walton will be under six months of non-reporting administrative probation and must take four hours of driving school after pleading guilty to reckless driving. Still, an NFL suspension remains possible.
• Both Mills and left guard Chris Reed have been bumped from the first-string unit in practice, according to Jackson and Beasley. That’s a bad sign for Mills’ job security and perhaps a bad sign for Reed’s future with the team. The Dolphins, in theory, could cut Reed to save $1.2MM against just $500K in dead money. Meanwhile, his $1.425MM option year for 2020 includes no guarantees.