Dolphins Make Flurry of Roster Moves

The Miami Dolphins signed four new players among their eight transactions.

Miami Dolphins running back Salvon Ahmed (26) runs the ball during the first half against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium last season. / Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins were busy on Monday, making eight roster moves, including two more players going on Injured Reserve and another being waived/injured.

The team announced the signings of running backs Zander Horvath and Anthony McFarland, Jr., linebacker Dequan Jackson, and wide receiver Jadon Janke late in the afternoon.

To make room on the 90-man roster, the Dolphins waived running back Salvon Ahmed, waived/injured first-year linebacker Ezekiel Vandenburgh, and put offensive lineman Sean Harlow and wide receiver Willie Snead IV on IR.

THE INFO ON THE NEWCOMERS

The new players, who will have to make a very quick impression if they hope to land a roster spot when teams have to reduce their rosters to the 53-player limit on August 27th, are young guys with a combined 32 games of NFL experience.

Horvath has appeared in 15 games with two starts, having spent the 2022 season with the Los Angeles Chargers and recording four carries for 8 yards. Horvath spent time on practice squads with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chargers in 2023 and spent the offseason program and part of training camp with New Orleans in 2024. Horvath entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick (260th overall) with Los Angeles in 2022.

McFarland played in 17 games during four seasons with Pittsburgh (2020-23), where he rushed for 146 yards on 42 carries (3.5 average) and caught 11 passes for 87 yards (7.9 average). He also recorded nine kick returns for 237 yards (26.3 average) during his time with the Steelers. He entered the NFL as a fourth-round selection (124th overall) with Pittsburgh in 2020.

Jackson entered the NFL on May 1, 2023, as an undrafted college free agent with Jacksonville, where he spent the season on the practice squad. He spent the 2024 offseason with the Jaguars. Jackson played collegiately at Colorado State, where he was teammates with Dolphins rookie edge defender Mohamed Kamara.

Janke entered the NFL on May 10, 2024, as an undrafted college free agent with Houston, where he spent part of this year’s training camp. He played collegiately at South Dakota State (2020-23), where he appeared in 51 games and caught 170 passes for 2,786 yards (16.4 average) and 30 touchdowns.

MORE INJURY PROBLEMS

Harlow became the second offensive lineman in two preseason games to suffer a season-ending knee injury. It occurred when Mike White fell on the side of his knee while he was being sacked by the Washington Commanders on Saturday night. Harlow had signed with the Dolphins on August 3rd.

Snead, a veteran with 103 career games and 48 starts, was also a newcomer, having signed with Miami on July 31st. There was no clear indication when he got injured during the preseason game against the Washington Commanders.

Harlow and Snead became the fifth and sixth players on IR, joining WR Tahj Washington, T Kion Smith, Edge Cam Brown, and Edge Grayson Murphy.

Vandenburgh was looking to make the roster after missing his entire rookie season with a knee injury.

Ahmed was the longest-tenured player let go Monday. He joined the team as a waiver wire claim from the San Francisco 49ers in 2020. Ahmed made four starts in his 38 games for the Dolphins and had one 100-yard rushing performance against the New England Patriots at home during his rookie season.