Miami Dolphins setting roster, readying for regular season, CBS Miami's Steve Goldstein
MIAMI GARDENS - After months of off-season workouts, training camp, and preseason games, the Miami Dolphins are finally ready to begin the regular season. Opening day is next Sunday in Los Angeles against the Chargers. But before that game is kicked off, there are a number of on and off the field transactions and situations to address.
D Line, Depth and Cash
Every person connected to the Dolphins is thrilled that defensive lineman Zach Sieler received a multi-year big money contract. As a productive, hard-working, team oriented player, he certainly deserves it.
Meanwhile, his good friend and fellow defensive lineman Christian Wilkins will not get a long-term deal done prior to the start of the season. The Dolphins made what they thought was a solid offer, but that was rejected. The good news is Wilkins says he is able to separate playing the game from business negotiations. He also said nobody wants to be a Dolphin more than he does, and he is hopeful that down the road, a deal will get worked out. General manager Chris Grier also just wants the focus to be on the field, so negotiations will be resumed after the season ends.
Those two players, along with Raekwon Davis, give the Dolphins a strong middle of the line. After that, depth is an issue. But an undrafted free agent, Brandon Pili, out of USC, made the team and there is an expectation he will develop. Make no mistake, the star power of the players that will receive most of the playing time is top notch. Pili had an interesting background. He is from Northern Alaska near the Arctic Circle. He said in the summer there would be sunlight 23 hours a day. When he was 8, the family moved down south to Anchorage, and that's when he started playing football. But he also played all sports, including hockey. His sister Alissa was a great athlete as well, and she played football on the defensive line next to him. She was an Alaska state wrestling champion and went on to play college basketball. Pili is humble, and it's good to see a person like him make an NFL roster.
RB Room
The rumors of Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor becoming a Dolphin have been put to bed, for now anyway. The Colts reportedly asked the Dolphins for a king's ransom, which perhaps included receiver Jaylen Waddle, in exchange for Taylor. That is a non-starter for the Dolphins and general manager Chris Grier said flat-out, Waddle is unavailable, as well he should be. So the Dolphins go into the season confident in their stable of running backs, which includes undrafted free agent Chris Brooks. He ran well and hard in the preseason and earned a spot on the 53-man roster, which led to the Dolphins waiving veteran Myles Gaskin. He has since been picked up by Minnesota.
QB Decision
Still to be determined, the backup quarterback? It has been a good training camp battle between second year man Skylar Thompson and new Dolphin Mike White. While many thought it was a slam dunk that White would be the 2nd quarterback when he was signed as a free agent from the Jets, the Dolphins never thought that and left the competition open. The lean here is that White will be the number 2 quarterback next week in Los Angeles.
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