With the 2022 season coming down to the last three games, the Miami Dolphins are doing their best to maintain quality depth along the offensive line.
On Tuesday, Miami released practice squad offensive lineman Lamont Gaillard and signed Lester Cotton to take his spot.
Gaillard only signed with the Dolphins at the beginning of November. He was never elevated to the active roster.
Cotton, 26, was originally undrafted out of Alabama in 2019. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders and spent his last four seasons with them, appearing in 15 games and starting one.
The Dolphins have been lucky on the interior with only Liam Eichenberg missing significant time, and even he should be ready to come back soon. Cotton gives them another depth piece with some at least some NFL experience.
Miami had lost Larnel Coleman to the Carolina Panthers last week.
The Miami Dolphins opened up a spot on the practice squad this week when they moved on from quarterback Reid Sinnett, and they also had a need for another offensive lineman with Larnel Coleman signing with the Carolina Panthers active roster.
On Wednesday, Miami filled that spot, signing offensive lineman Lamont Gaillard. Gaillard was a sixth-round draft pick in 2019 by the Arizona Cardinals out of Georgia.
The former Bulldog spent two seasons with the Cardinals, appearing in 13 games and starting two at center, before spending 2021 and this past offseason with the Cincinnati Bengals.
With Liam Eichenberg being placed on injured reserve this week, interior offensive line depth has become more important in South Florida.
The Rams might be on the lookout for center help, attempting to claim Lamont Gaillard.
Bookkeeping note: new Bengals C Lamont Gaillard was also claimed by both the Giants and Rams on waivers, but Cincy had higher waiver priority. Teams are mining for depth with camps back upon us.
The Los Angeles Rams plan to start Austin Corbett at center this season, but they might be on the lookout for help at the position. According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Rams attempted to claim center Lamont Gaillard, but the Bengals also claimed him and were higher on the waiver list.
The Giants attempted to claim Gaillard, as well, which shows he was a fairly hot commodity on the waiver wire.
It was the Arizona Cardinals who cut Gaillard this week, which allowed him to hit waivers. He was a sixth-round pick in 2019 and was active for 13 games with the Cardinals last season, making two starts.
For the Rams, Brian Allen is expected to be the backup to Corbett, though Coleman Shelton could also factor into the mix as a reserve center. If they were to claim Gaillard, it would’ve added some competition to the offensive line group.
Former Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Lamont Gaillard has a new team and it wasn’t even 24 hours after being released. After the Cardinals released him on Wednesday, he was claimed off waiver by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Gaillard was a former sixth-round pick of Arizona in 2019 and played in 13 games in 2020, starting twice in the place of Mason Cole when he was out with a hamstring injury.
As things stand, Gaillard will be the fourth center on the roster behind starter Trey Hopkins and backups Billy Price and Trey Hill.
The Cardinals still have not filled the roster spot created by Gaillard’s release and there were no workouts or visits on the league transaction report in the two days since then.
Why the Dolphins should explore free agent center Lamont Gaillard
The saying goes that one team’s trash is another team’s treasure. The Miami Dolphins have already cashed in on this concept under the current regime — with former Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Zach Sieler. Sieler was cut by Baltimore thanks to their depth along the line in 2019 and has since become a reliable cog in Miami’s defensive front.
And a new opportunity may have arisen for the Dolphins to take another shot in the dark on a waiver-wire addition who could, in time, provide dividends to a position of need. The Arizona Cardinals announced yesterday that they have waived center Lamont Gaillard, formerly of the Georgia Bulldogs.
Gaillard, who started 21 games at Georgia next to Dolphins guard Solomon Kindley, has the kind of build and skillset that seems to mesh with what Miami hopes to achieve up front based on their other personnel additions on the offensive line. Remember, Miami took a shot on former Georgia tackle Isaiah Wilson earlier this offseason, too.
Gaillard is a power center who was made expendable in Arizona thanks to the team trading for Rodney Hudson, who is arguably the best center in football. And at least one scouting outlet had nothing but good things to say about Gaillard coming out of Georgia, meaning he’d be not just a scheme and need fit for Miami but also a culture fit. The Draft Network’s Joe Marino suggested Gaillard was a valued piece of the program at Georgia.
“I don’t recall another prospect that has received as much praise from teammates, coaches and people near the program then Gaillard. He draws rave reviews on his work ethic, leadership and energy which is exactly what you want to hear about a center prospect. Gaillard came to Georgia a highly regarded defensive tackle prospect but moved to offensive line during spring of 2015. A three-year starter, Gaillard has appeal in every facet at the next level. With that said, he does have some weight distribution items to clean up in addition to some technique with his foot work to improve upon. Gaillard has the upside to become a team’s starter center.” — Joe Marino, The Draft Network
Ultimately, Gaillard would be nothing more at this point than a contender in what should be considered a wide-open race for the starting center job. Miami has brought in Matt Skura and Cameron Tom this offseason to compete with utility offensive lineman Michael Deiter for the starting role — what does the team have to lose by adding Gaillard to the mix?
This isn’t to say if Miami claims Gaillard that he will go on to win the starting job. He may not win the job or even make the roster. But there’s enough parallels here that should have Miami’s interest that it can’t hurt for them to kick the tires and see if they can strike gold once again while mining the waiver wire.
In a surprise move, the Cardinals cut Gaillard, who was expected to be their backup center this coming season, just days before the start of camp.
The week before the start of training camp, the Arizona Cardinals have announced a surprising roster move. They announced Wednesday they released third-year offensive lineman Lamont Gaillard.
Gaillard was a sixth-round pick out of Georgia in 2019 and did not play the entire season. In 2020, he appeared in 13 games and started twice in place of the injured Mason Cole.
Arizona is set at center in terms of a starter with Rodney Hudson, but Gaillard was projected by most to be his backup.
That is what makes the move surprising.
Now, veteran Max Garcia appears to be the main backup behind Hudson and they also have rookie Michael Menet, whom they just drafted in the seventh round this year out of Penn State.
With the release, the Cardinals now have 90 players on the roster but, because of the exemption for tight end Bernhard Seikovits, they have an open spot.
The team did not announce any other moves, so it is perhaps a prelude to a signing or a trade, or perhaps this is related some issue off the field we are not yet aware of.
Nick Martin was just recently released from the Texans – could he join ex-teammate DeAndre Hopkins in the desert?
In a continued look at free agents the Arizona Cardinals could look into, we look at Nick Martin, who was recently cut by the Houston Texans.
Drafted in the second round in 2016 and starting at center for Houston since 2017, including every game each of the last three years, Martin should have a market in a league that constantly craves offensive line depth. And he would make sense for the Cards, as Sean Kugler recently mentioned bringing in competition at the center spot to compete with Mason Cole and Lamont Gaillard.
Martin would make a ton of sense, even if he was just brought in for depth (his recent contract with Houston was $11M per year). It might be a mental jump to think Arizona could pursue Martin, who would likely require starter money.
Should Arizona sign him, he would be penciled in as the starter as center, rather than the “competition” that Kugler mentioned. That should probably not keep Arizona from pursuing the veteran, who’s still in his 20s.
He has only been penalized 13 times his entire career, only twice for false starts.
What do you guys think? Could Martin join ex-teammate DeAndre Hopkins in the desert?
He believes both Mason Cole and Lamont Gaillard have played well and will improve but would not rule out signing someone in free agency.
As the Arizona Cardinals prepare for free agency and the NFL draft this offseason, the center position has players already on the roster. Mason Cole was the starter and Lamont Gaillard started a few games when Cole was injured.
How did they do?
According to offensive line coach and run game coordinator Sean Kugler, who spoke to the media this week virtually, “the center position last year had its ups and downs.”
Cole and Gaillard “at times played extremely well, at times both those guys struggled, both being young players.”
However, Kugler was optimistic about their future.
“They’re both hard workers, they both like the game of football,” he said. “I think they’re both going to improve. They both have things that they need to improve upon. They know what those things are and they need to take the accountability of improving those things.”
With both on the roster, the Cardinals aren’t just going to stand pat.
“Will we try to add to that room or will we try to improve the competition? We’ll always do that,” he explained. “We’ll always try to look to make sure that we’ve got the best five out there and next best five ready to go, and if that means bringing somebody in, that’s not out of the possibility.”
There are some notable centers who will be free agents. The Cardinals could make a splash and sign one. Since both Cole and Gaillard can play guard as well, they could be in the mix for either guard position, depending on what they do with starting left guard Justin Pugh.
Essentially, the Cardinals are leaving all options available.
“The center position overall needs to take the next step and get better.”
If that happens, it will bring good things to the offense.
A look at the performance of every lineman who got any playing time at guard or center last season.
The Arizona Cardinals went through many ups and downs last season, and at their peak looked like one of the most formidable teams in the league. To get to where they were this season just two years removed from having the worst record in the NFL, they had to go through a lot of roster turnover.
In the sixth part of this series, we will be looking back at each interior offensive lineman who recorded a snap for Arizona this season and grade their performance.
Fitts is the third outside linebacker to land on IR after Chandler Jones and Dennis Gardeck.
The Arizona Cardinals announced a pair of roster moves on Monday. They placed outside linebacker Kylie Fitts on injured reserve with a hand injury.
Fitts played through a hamstring injury in Week 16 and apparently sustained a hand injury in Saturday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.
His season is over unless the Cardinals qualify for the postseason and make it deep into the playoffs.
He finishes the year having played in 13 games and starting one. He had nine tackles, a quarterback hit and a forced fumble. The forced fumble came on special teams. He had three special teams tackles this season.
Gaillard was not injured but also was not part of the 53-man roster. The league granted the team a roster exemption for Gaillard for COVID testing protocol.
When he left the team two weeks ago to be there for the birth of his daughter, he broke testing protocol and had to clear it upon his return before being activated. He has now cleared the five consecutive days of negative tests and has been reinstated to the roster.
