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Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa Out For Week 17

December 29th, 2024 at 1:41pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

DECEMBER 29: Tagovailoa is indeed among Miami’s inactives for Sunday’s game. Huntley will get the nod as the Dolphins look to keep their playoff hopes alive.

DECEMBER 28: The Dolphins have downgraded quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to doubtful for their Week 17 matchup with the Browns, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. If he is unable to play, Tyler Huntley would make his fourth start of the season.

Tagovailoa suffered a hip injury in Week 15, but finished the game and played 100% of Miami’s offensive snaps in Week 16. The fifth-year quarterback wants to continue to play through the injury, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, but his mobility and athleticism are limited. Tagovailoa had surgery on the same hip when he was in college, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, but his current injury is affecting a different area.

The 2020 first-round pick downplayed the injury during a press conference on Thursday (via ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques):”I mean it’s good. It’s just like anyone else on the team and anyone else around the league. You get banged up little bit towards the ending of the year so just got to take care of that.”

Since Thursday, though, Tagovailoa has been trending down. Along with ruling him doubtful, the Dolphins elevated Skylar Thompson from the practice squad for Sunday’s game, another indication that Tagovailoa is unlikely to play.

An absence this weekend would be Tagovailoa’s fifth this season after a four-week IR stint after his Week 2 concussion. Miami has to beat Cleveland to keep their playoff hopes alive; a loss would all but eliminate them from postseason contention.

The Dolphins also promoted wide receiver Erik Ezukanma to the active roster, placed cornerback Kendall Fuller on injured reserve, and elevated cornerback Nik Needham from the practice squad, per a team announcement.

Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill Playing Through Torn Ligament In Wrist

December 28th, 2024 at 11:02am CST by Ben Levine

While Tyreek Hill hasn’t missed any games this season due to a lingering wrist injury, he’s missed significant practice time. After dropping a couple of passes on Sunday, Hill attributed the struggles to his lack of practice reps with Tua Tagovailoa (per Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com).

However, it sounds like Hill may also be selling his injury short. As C. Isaiah Smalls II of the Miami Herald writes, the wideout suffered a torn ligament in his wrist during the preseason. Dolphins WRs coach also recently revealed to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that Hill has been dealing with an ankle issue.

When you consider the growing list of injuries and Miami’s inconsistent QB play during Tagovailoa’s absence, it makes sense why Hill has put up some of the worst numbers of his career. After finishing the 2023 campaign with a mind-numbing 112.4 yards per game, Hill has seen that number drop to only 55.6 yards in 2024. His 63.1 catch percentage also represents a career-low. Still, the wideout has been unwilling to use any of these factors as an excuse for his performance.

“I have a certain standard that I want to set for my family and that standard is to never quit, never back down no matter what you’re going through in life because adversity hits us all,” Hill told Smalls. “My mindset is like ‘suck it up, wait til the end of season and continue to battle with my brothers’ because you never know when it’s going to end.”

The five-time All-Pro agreed to a restructured deal this offseason which has a base value of $90MM over three years. The pact includes $65MM in practical guarantees, meaning his health should be of particular importance to the organization.

Hill isn’t the only Dolphins offensive weapon to play through an injury. Per Jackson, running back Raheem Mostert has been playing through a fractured sternum. After finishing last season with a league-leading 21 touchdowns, the veteran has taken a step back behind De’Von Achane in 2024.

Dolphins To Waive Shaq Barrett From Reserve/Retired List

December 26th, 2024 at 9:52am CST by Sam Robinson

Shaq Barrett‘s 2024 has been rather complicated. He has been involved in a few transactions despite not playing this season. After Barrett unretired, he did not factor into the Dolphins’ plans due an NFL deadline.

The Dolphins did not activate Barrett from the reserve/retired list by a late-November deadline that would have allowed him to play this season. Barrett informed the team he wished to come back, after initially retiring, but the Dolphins did not greenlight that opportunity. They are now waiving Barrett from their reserve/retired list, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter.

[RELATED: Dolphins Will Not Activate Bradley Chubb From PUP List]

Since we are well past the trade deadline, all vested veterans released hit waivers. Barrett can play in 2024 if he clears waivers, but Schefter adds his contract being claimed would keep him on the reserve/retired list for the rest of the season. A team could make a play to effectively block a rival from adding the veteran edge rusher, but Barrett has a path to free agency and a potential role soon.

The former NFL sack leader informed the Dolphins in November he wished to play this season, doing so after telling the team he was done just before training camp. Miami had signed Barrett in March, stepping in after the former Super Bowl starter became a Tampa Bay cap casualty. Barrett, 32, would have been on track to help the Dolphins fill their Bradley Chubb void. But his retirement changed those plans. Despite applying for reinstatement, Barrett did not end up being activated by the Dolphins in time to help them this season.

Barrett signed a one-year, $7MM deal with the Dolphins. The terms of that contract would make it a slight surprise if he is claimed. The Dolphins have effectively done right by Barrett, who retired after 10 NFL seasons in July. He could soon catch on with a contender that is attempting to make a Super Bowl push. A team like the Lions, who have dealt with numerous defensive injuries since Aidan Hutchinson went down, would come to mind as a possible suitor. They probably would not be the only team to consider the ex-Bucs starter if he clears waivers.

A rotational role would likely be Barrett’s best-case scenario if he hits free agency and signs with a team soon after. The regular season is coming to a close, and the former Broncos UDFA has not shown top form since an Achilles tear ended his 2022 season. Barrett came back from the injury last season but finished with just 4.5 sacks — his lowest full-season total during his Tampa Bay tenure — and nine QB hits. The Bucs designated him a post-June 1 cut soon after. That said, Barrett is now more than two years removed from that Achilles setback, potentially helping his sales pitch to teams.

Barrett played the lead role for a Bucs defense that dominated the high-scoring Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, keying a second-half onslaught. Tampa Bay then signed off on a four-year, $72MM deal to retain him. Barrett, who led the league with 19.5 sacks in 2019 en route to a 2020 franchise tag, registered 10 sacks in 2021 and made the Pro Bowl. He will become a free agent if unclaimed by 3pm CT Friday.

Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

December 24th, 2024 at 7:42pm CST by Adam La Rose

Two weeks remain in the regular season, and while a number of teams are jockeying for playoff spots several others are still in contention to land a coveted draft slot. It remains to be seen where the No. 1 selection will wind up.

The Giants and Raiders entered Sunday’s action with two wins apiece, and New York’s loss kept the team strongly in contention to kick off the draft in April. By virtue of winning against the Jaguars, though, the Raiders hurt their chances of finding themselves in that position. A top-two spot (or thereabouts) may be required to draft either of this year’s top passers, but a small move up the order positioning Vegas to add one could still be on the table.

Five teams currently sit a 3-12, and a head-to-head matchup between the Titans and Jaguars on Sunday will be key in deciding where each of them wind up. Another three squads own a 4-11 record, so plenty of potential exists in terms of changes being made to the order at the top of the board. Numerous expected suitors for a Day 1 quarterback (including teams like the Browns and Jets) may very well find themselves out of reach for Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders without a trade-up being necessary. The Panthers’ starting situation with Bryce Young is certainly not settled for 2025, but adding a passer on Day 1 would come as a surprise at this point.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2024 standings — plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule — with playoff squads being slotted by their postseason outcome and regular-season record. Here is an updated look at the current draft order:

  1. New York Giants (2-13)
  2. New England Patriots (3-12)
  3. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-12)
  4. Tennessee Titans (3-12)
  5. Cleveland Browns (3-12)
  6. Las Vegas Raiders (3-12)
  7. Carolina Panthers (4-11)
  8. New York Jets (4-11)
  9. Chicago Bears (4-11)
  10. New Orleans Saints (5-10)
  11. San Francisco 49ers (6-9)
  12. Miami Dolphins (7-8)
  13. Indianapolis Colts (7-8)
  14. Cincinnati Bengals (7-8)
  15. Dallas Cowboys (7-8)
  16. Arizona Cardinals (7-8)
  17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-7)
  18. Seattle Seahawks (8-7)
  19. Atlanta Falcons (8-7)
  20. Los Angeles Chargers (9-6)
  21. Houston Texans (9-6)
  22. Denver Broncos (9-6)
  23. Los Angeles Rams (9-6)
  24. Washington Commanders (10-5)
  25. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-5)
  26. Baltimore Ravens (10-5)
  27. Green Bay Packers (11-4)
  28. Philadelphia Eagles (12-3)
  29. Buffalo Bills (12-3)
  30. Minnesota Vikings (13-2)
  31. Detroit Lions (13-2)
  32. Kansas City Chiefs (14-1)

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/24/24

December 24th, 2024 at 5:23pm CST by Adam La Rose

Tuesday’s taxi squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

  • Signed: K Andre Szmyt

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

Szmyt spent time on the Bears’ practice squad last year before playing with the USFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks recently. The 26-year-old terminated his pact with the spring league club to take a deal in Cleveland. A former All-American and Lou Graza winner as the country’s top kicker during his college career, Szmyt could see time late in the year given the Browns’ kicking struggles in 2024.

Thomas appeared to be on his way to join the Colts after he was claimed off waivers by Indianapolis. The veteran corner failed his physical upon arrival with his new team, however, leading to another trip to the waiver wire. No teams put in a claim this time around, but shortly after reaching free agency Thomas has landed a deal. The former 49er has 42 games and 11 starts to his name, and he will provide Minnesota with cornerback depth through the closing stages of the campaign.

Dolphins Will Not Activate Bradley Chubb

December 24th, 2024 at 3:06pm CST by Adam La Rose

Bradley Chubb has spent the 2024 season rehabbing his ACL tear from late last year. Whether or not the veteran edge rusher would play down the stretch remained a question until today.

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said on Tuesday (via ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques) that Chubb will not be activated from the reserve/PUP list. The two-time Pro Bowler had his practice window opened on December 4, giving him three weeks to practice in preparation for a return to the lineup. That time will expire tomorrow, though, and McDaniel noted Chubb and the team agree he is not currently in a condition to perform at his usual level.

As a result, Miami’s push for a wild-card spot will continue without Chubb in the fold. The former Bronco posted 2.5 sacks with the Dolphins upon arriving via trade midway through the 2022 campaign. He signed a five-year, $110MM extension shortly after joining his new team, however, so expectations remained high moving forward. In 2023, Chubb was a key presence along the edge with 11 sacks and 33 pressures; that campaign came to an abrupt end with an ACL tear, though, the timing of which left his 2024 availably in doubt.

McDaniel noted Chubb (whose injury also included a torn meniscus and patellar tendon) has made considerable progress in his rehab, and his outlook for the coming offseason is much brighter than this past one. Still, not having the former first-rounder available for any portion of the season – or the playoffs, should they make it – will be significant for the Dolphins. That is especially true considering Jaelan Phillips‘ season-ending knee injury from earlier this year.

With neither member of that pairing available the rest of the way, Miami will continue to lean heavily on first-round rookie Chop Robinson to lead the team’s edge contingent. The Penn State product got off to a slow start at the beginning of the campaign, but he has emerged as a key pass-rush contributor lately. As Louis-Jacques notes, Robinson ranks third in the NFL in pressure rate since becoming a starter in Week 6. He has six sacks overall, and adding to that total will be key if the Dolphins are to stay alive in the playoff hunt.

Chubb remains on the books through 2027, but none of his salaries for the final three years of the pact are guaranteed. Considering his cap hits for each of those campaigns are scheduled to check in at over $29MM, it would come as no surprise if adjustments were to be made in the offseason. In any case, Chubb will not see the field again until the start of the 2025 campaign.

NFL Injury Updates: Fashanu, Dolphins, Beck

December 24th, 2024 at 9:48am CST by Ely Allen

The Jets will be without rookie swing tackle Olu Fashanu for the remainder of the season, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The 2024 first-round pick suffered a foot injury in Sunday’s loss to the Rams and was taken on a cart directly to the locker room, forgoing the blue medical tent. According to Ryan Dunleavy of New York Post Sports, Fashanu was seen on crutches after the game as his camp declined interviews.

Fashanu was taken with the Jets’ first overall pick last year, following a trade one spot back so that Minnesota could take Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. He was the third offensive tackle taken in the draft, behind Notre Dame’s Joe Alt and Alabama’s JC Latham, both of whom have been full-time starters for the Chargers and Titans, respectively, as rookies.

Fashanu was drafted to be an offensive tackle for the future in New York after the team signed two 33-year-old veteran tackles in free agency. It didn’t take long for the future to come as injuries to the Jets’ aging bookends opened the door to playing time for Fashanu. A knee injury to Morgan Moses in Weeks 4 and 5 allowed Fashanu to make his first two starts at right tackle after playing mostly special teams in his first three games. Then, in Week 11, left tackle Tyron Smith was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury, and Fashanu has started on the blindside ever since.

The 22-year-old still has some developing to do, he ranked 61st of 79 graded offensive tackles this season, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), but the starting experience was good for him to get. New York doesn’t have a third left tackle listed on their depth chart, but depth right tackle Max Mitchell, a fourth-round pick from two years ago, filled in for Fashanu after the injury. Mitchell had 12 starts in 20 appearances over his first two years and will likely earn his first start of this season next week.

Here are a few other injury updates from the NFL world:

  • The Dolphins have had to get creative at long snapper this season, employing Zach Triner, Matt Overton, and Jake McQuaide at different points of the season in the absence of Blake Ferguson. Ferguson, the team’s primary long snapper since 2020, played in the first five games of the season before being placed on the reserve/non-football injury list in October. The team has released no information on what’s going on with Ferguson, and special teams coordinator Danny Crossman claimed it would be “illegal” to reveal what he’s going through, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Whatever it is, Crossman says he hopes it will put Ferguson’s mind at rest that he will not be snapping for the remainder of the season. McQuaide, signed to the practice squad eight days ago and the active roster a day later, will be filling in for the remainder of the year.
  • Additionally in Miami, head coach Mike McDaniel said that wide receiver Grant DuBose is “in good spirits” following the head injury that hospitalized him in the team’s Week 15 trip to Houston, per ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. DuBose was placed on IR two days later, but McDaniel confirmed that he would not be playing again this year.
  • This isn’t quite yet injury news for the NFL, though it will affect the subject’s stock in the 2025 NFL Draft. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck underwent successful surgery on his UCL yesterday. According to Field Yates at ESPN, he is expected to begin throwing again in the spring, which makes it sound as if he’ll miss most, if not all, pre-draft activities.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/21/24

December 21st, 2024 at 7:34pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s minor transactions and standard gameday practice squad elevations:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

After being activated from injured reserve in early November, Bates only played two games before suffering a concussion. The 27-year-old has not played since Week 11 and will now miss the remainder of the season on IR. Bates is under contract through 2025.

DT Calais Campbell Could Go To Contender On Waivers If Miami Is Eliminated

December 20th, 2024 at 10:01pm CST by Ely Allen

At 38 years old, Calais Campbell is still playing as a focal point on defense in Miami. There was a chance that the team would trade him at the deadline, giving him an opportunity to return to Baltimore for the first time since 2022, but the trade was ultimately vetoed, seemingly guaranteeing he would finish the year as a Dolphin. Per Joseph Furones of the Sun Sentinel, Campbell confirmed recent rumors he may still find his way out of Miami on waivers.

Just prior to the trade deadline, a Ravens team who was desperate to improve a struggling defense made a number of stabs in the trade market, including offers for Campbell and veteran cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Tre’Davious White, the latter of which they successfully acquired. The Campbell-trade was reported to have fallen just short at the finish line, and it was later uncovered that head coach Mike McDaniel personally vetoed the deal that would’ve sent the six-time Pro Bowler back to Baltimore in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick.

Now, it appears that Campbell could still depart Miami, but this time, the Dolphins wouldn’t be receiving anything in return. In his conversation with Furones, Campbell indicated that, should Miami be eliminated from playoff contention — something the team is dangerously close to — Campbell could request to be waived, giving him an opportunity to sign with a contender and win his first Super Bowl.

The Dolphins are currently 6-8. If they win out, they could finish the season as high as the fifth seed in the AFC for the playoffs — a top wild card spot. Note that this would require the Broncos, Chargers, and Ravens to lose all of their remaining games. If the Dolphins win out and any of the other three wild card teams lose out, the Dolphins would secure a playoff spot. If Miami suffers one loss, though, in games against the 49ers, at the Browns, and at the Jets, that would be enough to eliminate them from playoff contention.

There’s no deadline on when a player can be waived, so if any of the above matchups result in a loss, Campbell could be cut lose, and should he pass through waivers unclaimed, he would be able to sign wherever he chooses. It’s assumed he would want to sign with a contender. This could mean that he’ll chase after a roster spot with one of the division-leaders of the AFC in Kansas City, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, or Houston. He could also head back to the NFC in favor of the Eagles, Lions, or Vikings, especially considering how thin Detroit’s defensive line has been spread due to injuries.

More likely, though, Campbell may choose a contender with whom he has a history. This leaves the door open for a potential return to the Ravens, a team that would likely still embrace him with open arms. Only time will tell. The job is not finished in Miami. Though a playoff spot seems like a long shot for the Dolphins, it’s still within reach. One more win by the Broncos, Chargers, and Ravens or one more loss by the Dolphins will eliminate that possibility, but it would also create the potential to open the door for Campbell to win a championship, nonetheless.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/17/24

December 17th, 2024 at 9:38pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are the latest practice squad updates from around the NFL:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

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