Dolphins Signing Duke to Active Roster

Former University of Miami star Duke Johnson got rewarded for his brilliant performance in the Week 15 victory against the New York Jets

Duke Johnson basically left the Miami Dolphins no choice.

One day after Johnson's brilliant performance in the 31-24 victory against the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium as a practice squad elevation, the Dolphins signed the veteran running back to the active roster Monday morning.

The news first came from ESPN reporter Adam Schefter, citing Johnson's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and has been confirmed by a league source.

One day after running for 102 yards and two touchdowns, RB Duke Johnson is being signed to the Miami Dolphins’ active roster, per his agent @DrewJRosenhaus.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 20, 2021

Without this move, Johnson would have reverted back to the practice squad Monday, giving other teams around the league the opportunity to sign him until the practice squad protections for this week were filed with the league.

Rosenhaus told WSVN anchor Josh Moser, with whom he appears on a weekly sports show every Sunday night, that he had gotten a lot of interest about Johnson from other teams following his 107-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Jets.

.@DrewJRosenhaus says he's "receiving calls" from multiple #NFL teams about RB Duke Johnson after his 107 yard & 2TD performance vs. the #NYJets. The #Dolphins will have a chance to sign him to the active roster, however there is a lot of interest if he lands back on the p-squad pic.twitter.com/NLWtun02HJ

— Josh Moser (@TheMozKnowz) December 20, 2021

The addition of Johnson would give the Dolphins three running backs on the active roster along with Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed — not counting Phillip Lindsay, who's on the COVID-19 list, or Patrick Laird, who's on IR, or Malcolm Brown, who also is on IR but returned to practice last week.

This would suggest the possibility of another roster move at the position because the Dolphins aren't likely to keep five running backs on the 53-man roster once Lindsay and Brown are ready to play — Laird's injury very well might keep him out for the rest of the season.

The game Sunday was the second one for Johnson with the Dolphins, ironically both against the Jets.

It actually was a little surprising that Johnson couldn't find a team this season after six mostly solid years with the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans, but his only action had been a nine-day stint with the Jacksonville practice squad in September before the Dolphins signed him to their own practice squad Oct. 26.

After being elevated as a COVID-19 replacement last week, Johnson started against the Jets even after Gaskin and Ahmed both were activated from the COVID-19 list and in uniform for the game.

Johnson responded with the first 100-yard rushing performance by a Dolphins back this season and the first of his career, topping his previous career high of 78 yards with Cleveland against San Francisco in 2015.

The former University of MIami star who grew up 15 minutes away from Hard Rock Stadium, said after the game the performance and the chants from the crowd of "Duuuuuke, Duuuuuuke!" were more special became everything happened in a Dolphins victory.

Now, there's even more reason for him to relish that performance.