In a very surprising move, the Dolphins have waived former second round pick Matt Roth. Filling his roster spot is former Lions DE Ikaika Alama-Francis.
Roth was a starter at strong side outside linebacker all of last year but had a "mysterious groin injury" that held him out of all of training camp this year and much of the season this year. But even still, this move comes as a big surprise as it seemed like Roth was possibly on his way towards becoming a solid run-stopping OLB in Miami's 3-4 defense.
It's hard to figure out why the Dolphins decided to cut Roth at this point in time. But the Miami Herald reports that this move "was strictly a football decision" - according to a team source - and didn't have anything to do with any outside factors, like Roth's groin injury from earlier this season. Sources also told the Herald that this was just a situation where people in the personnel department and on the coaching staff thought that Roth wasn't the same player he was last season. Asked if the groin injury could be part of the reason, a source said, "That's as good a guess as any."
But still - the timing of the move was curious, to say the least.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins added defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis, a 2007 second round pick of the Detroit Lions. He spent two seasons in Detroit before being cut back in September. Alama-Francis is a 6'5, 290 pound prototypical 3-4 defense end who could very well see playing time sooner rather than later with Tony McDaniel and Randy Starks expected to get some snaps at nose tackle following the loss of Jason Ferguson.
Alama-Francis has played in 19 career games with the Lions, starting two. Before attending Hawaii, he was a three sport star in high school, playing baseball, basketball, and volleyball. So he's an athlete for sure. He actually was a walk-on to Hawaii's basketball team before decided to play football.
Hat tip to Daniel52