It's been a busy couple of days in the Miami Dolphins' front office. The team has executed ten player transactions since Monday, signing five new players and releasing five others, all in the annual churn at the bottom of the roster.
The Dolphins had their first off day of training camp Monday, giving the front office a clean day to work phones and make signings happen. The first of those happened on Monday, when the team added offensive tackles Steven Baker and Tony Hills, waiving wide receiver Gerald Ford and Michael Philipp.
We discussed the Baker signing earlier this week, and you can read about him here.
Hills has been a journeyman since arriving in the league as a fourth round selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played three seasons in Pittsburgh before spending the 2011 season with the Denver Broncos, followed by a year with the Indianapolis Colts. In 2013, he split a portion of the year between the Buffalo Bills and the Oakland Raiders. The 6-foot-5, 304 pound, Texas product, will likely look to provide depth at right tackle for the Dolphins, though he does have the versatility to swing to the left side, and could play inside at guard if needed.
On Tuesday, the team continued the churn, signing tight end Brett Brackett, quarterback Seth Lobato, and defensive end D'Aundre Reed, while waiving quarterback Brock Jensen and linebacker Derrell Johnson, and waived/injured guard Davonte Wallace.
Brackett began his career with the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2011. After being released, he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad for the first month of the 2011 season, then moved to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad. He stuck with the Eagles through the 2012 training camp, before being waived in the final round of roster cuts, rejoining the Jaguars when they made a waiver claim on him. He landed on injured reserve after one practice with the Jaguars due to a knee injury, then was released prior to the 2013 season. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals this offseason, but was released in May, and now re-joins Miami. He has no career regular season appearances.
The news on the signing of Lobato broke last night, with our coverage here.
Reed was a 2011 seventh round pick of the Minnesota Vikings, spending two seasons with the club. He spent most of the 2013 season with the San Francisco 49ers as a member of their practice squad, landing on the Jaguars' roster just prior to the end of the year. He spent the last two months playing for the Los Angeles KISS of the Arena Football League.
All five new members of the team are at practice this morning.