Dolphins Work Out Two Former First-Round Picks, Other O-Linemen

The four workout players included another veteran with starting experience

Las Vegas Raiders offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood (70) against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

As the Miami Dolphins prepare for their must-win game against the New York Jets on Sunday, they're also planning for beyond that game.

To that extend, the team worked out four offensive linemen Tuesday, according to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, a group that included two former first-round picks, Alex Leatherwood and Cameron Erving.

The others were NFL veteran Lucas Niang, as well as a rookie Gunner Britton.

The four linemen are tackles first, though all of them could be used at guard.

After playing four seasons at the University of Alabama, where he was teammates with Tua Tagovailoa from 2017-19, Leatherwood became the 17th overall selection in the 2021 NFL draft and started every game as a rookie.

But it's been downhill ever since for Leatherwood, who the Raiders released in his second training camp.

He played four games in a backup capacity for the Chicago Bears in 2022 after being claimed off waivers and spending time on the Reserve/Non-Football Illness list, but hasn't played in a regular season game the past two seasons.

He spent the 2023 season on the Cleveland Browns practice squad and was on the L.A. Chargers practice squad this year before being released in early December.

Erving has bounced around since being a first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2015, playing 98 games with 58 starts for five teams, most recently the New Orleans Saints in 2023.

After going unsigned as a free agent this offseason, Erving spent time with both the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers practice squads.

Niang has 33 games with nine starters on his NFL resume after being a third-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 draft after he opted out of his rookie season because of the COVID pandemic.

He was on the Chiefs practice squad this year before being released in late November.

Britton went undrafted out of Auburn before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills, but was waived in late August and didn't hook up with another team.

THE IDEA BEHIND THE DOLPHINS WORKOUTS

Because the Dolphins are down to their final regular season game with a slight possibility of a playoff game the following week, this looks more than anything like the team doing its due diligence in preparing to sign players for 2025.

Remember that not only after the Dolphins season ends, whenever that turns out to be, the team will be signing players to "futures contracts." That group usually includes mostly players who ended the season on the practice squad, but also has some other players who ended the season without a team.

The Dolphins do have health issues at tackle right now with Terron Armstead dealing with a knee injury that has caused to pull himself out of two recent games and Kendall Lamm recently dealt with a back problem, but it's not likely the Dolphins would turn for a playoff game to an offensive tackle signed in January.