The Latest on the Search for D-Line Help

The Miami Dolphins have released one of their young interior defensive linemen

The day after bringing in three defensive linemen for workouts, the Miami Dolphins have made their move to upgrade the position.

The Dolphins have agreed to terms with Detroit Lions 2018 fourth-round pick Da'Shawn Hand, who played for Nick Saban at Alabama.

Hand has 31 games of NFL experience, all but two of them with the Lions, including eight starts in his rookie season of 2018.

Listed at 6-3, 297, Hand figures to become the top backup — at least for the moment — behind Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler.

Hand spent the 2022 season with the Tennessee Titans, who first signed him to their practice squad the previous season.

The former Alabama player always has shown intriguing potential, but he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. He ended up on IR with a knee injury in 2018, an ankle injury in 2019, a groin injury in 2020 and 2021, and a quad injury in 2022.

He couldn't find a new team after becoming an unrestricted free agent in March.

THE OTHER DOLPHINS MOVE SUNDAY

The addition of Hand comes after the Dolphins waived defensive tackle Anthony Montalvo, a rookie free agent from UCF who had a pretty quiet training camp but did have a sack in the practice/scrimmage at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday.

Hand was among three defensive linemen who worked out for the Dolphins before practice Saturday along with Marvin Wilson and Roderick Perry, but reports indicated that Perry would be re-signing with the Seattle Seahawks, who first signed him July 25 before waiving him Aug. 1.

DOLPHINS NEED DEPTH ON DEFENSIVE LINE

The Dolphins have a lot of talent among their interior defensive line with Christian Wilkins, Zach Sieler and Raekwon Davis, but they have nothing behind them in terms of established NFL players. It's a situation that figures to change — it's almost a given — between now and the start of the regular season against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 10.

The three interior defensive linemen on the roster behind the top three with Montalvo now gone are Josiah Bronson, Jaylen Twyman and Brandon Pili. The last one is a rookie free agents, Twyman is a first-year player with no NFL regular season experience, and Bronson has appeared in eight games over the past two seasons, including one for the Dolphins last season when he played five snaps on defense.

Twyman has made himself quite noticeable in practice, particularly in pass-rushing situations, but training camp practice and the regular season are two different things.

This is what Fangio said about the defensive line when he spoke to the media before practice Friday: “Yeah, we’re happy with the Zach, Christian and Raekwon. We need to find two other guys, three other guys, to surface as the fourth, fifth, and sixth defensive linemen, and so far nobody has done that. So that’s an area of that we need to get better at.”

THE DOLPHINS' TRANSACTIONS SATURDAY

The Dolphins reached an injury settlement with rookie free agent safety Bennett Williams, who had been waived/injured. this week.

Williams is now free to sign with any other NFL team.

Fullback John Lovett, meanwhile, reverted to injured reserve after being waived/injured Friday.