All Dolphins

Bowden, Ballage Back in Action

Lynn Bowden and Kalen Ballage are among the many former Miami Dolphins players on UFL rosters

Alain Poupart

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. (3) runs into the end zone after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Hard Rock Stadium in a 2022 preseason game.
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. (3) runs into the end zone after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Hard Rock Stadium in a 2022 preseason game. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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The United Football League will kick off its new season at the end of March, and the rosters once again will feature some players known to most NFL fans.

And that would include a couple of former Miami Dolphins players looking to work their way back into the NFL, wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. and running back Kalen Ballage.

Bowden is a member of the D.C. Defenders, while Ballage will be playing for the Arlington Renegades once the 2025 UFL season kicks off March 28.

Also on UFL rosters are two players who ended the 2024 season on the Dolphins practice squad, running back Deneric Prince with the Memphis Showboats and defensive tackle Shakel Brown with the Houston Roughnecks.

Among other players who spent time with the Dolphins, even if only in training camp or on the practice squad, on UFL rosters include CB Damon Arnette and RB Za'Quandre White with Houston, LB Zeke Vandenburgh with Memphis and Kirk Merritt, who was a wide receiver with the Dolphins but is listed as a running back with the Roughnecks.

Also, Isaiah Mack and Daviyon Nixon, who were the first two of many defensive tackles the Dolphins signed last offseason, will be playing for the St. Louis Battlehawks and Renegades, respectively.

THE LONG JOURNEYS FOR BOWDEN AND BALLAGE

Bowden played only one season for the Dolphins after being acquired in a trade with the Raiders in August 2020, but he was impressive enough that rookie year that him winding up in the UFL at any point seemed unlikely at the time.

But his career went sideways after that promising 2020 season and he was out of football in 2024 after the New Orleans declined to extend a qualifying offer as restricted free agent and no other team signed him.

After spending the 2021 season on IR, Bowden was released by the Dolphins in August 2022 and wound up playing one game with the New England Patriots that season and 15 games with three starts with the Saints in 2023.

Ballage was a fourth-round pick of the Dolphins in the 2018 draft and last played in the NFL in 2021 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

His rookie season was pretty quiet until he reeled off a 75-yard touchdown run in a December game against the Minnesota Vikings, but his production nosedived in 2019 when he average an unsightly 1.8 yards on his 74 carries in his 12 games (with six starts).

Before joining the Dolphins, Ballage tied an NCAA record by scoring eight touchdowns for Arizona State as a junior in a 68-55 victory against Texas Tech, whose quarterback passed for 540 yards and five touchdowns. That quarterback was named Patrick Mahomes.

Ballage signed to play in the XFL in 2023 but wound up on the San Antonio Brahmas' injured list.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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