The Miami Dolphins’ massive influx in talent over the weekend was initially set to max out the team’s roster space, but the Dolphins have pulled some strings and continue to churn the roster in their search for the perfect blend of training camp bodies to prep this team to play in 2020. And, thanks to a technicality and loophole in Miami’s personnel, the team is now aligned to add not one but two talents to their roster as Miami looks to finalize things ahead of whatever their virtual offseason has to offer.
The Dolphins, in the aftermath of the 2020 NFL Draft, cut four players, which left the team below the 90 man cutoff — but Miami also got word this weekend that the team is receiving a roster exemption for international talent Durval Queiroz Neto, who joined the team in 2019 as a part of the NFL’s international initiative to expand the reach of talent beyond the states.
Dolphins roster is at 89. They also received a roster exemption for Durval Queiroz Neto, who came over from the international pathway program last year and will return in 2020, so they can add two more players to get them to 91.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) April 28, 2020
Queiroz Neto is a massive lineman with plenty of athletic gifts — the Dolphins spent 2019 trying to mold those physical skills on the practice squad and will be rewarded this summer for their patience by having the chance to retain him while simultaneously opening up another roster spot for a more established veteran player.
Don’t expect any big signings from the Dolphins, however. The team has endured pretty significant cap commitments via the 2020 NFL Draft and the addition of running back Matt Breida via trade — so Miami’s flexibility to add star power that will command big dollars at this point in time is questionable at best. Instead, look for Miami to capitalize on their added space by signing potential role players or talents with special teams upside in order to further bolster their flexibility for when the team must cut down from 90 players and prep for the start of the 2020 season.