Dolphins roster cuts include Dion Jordan, Zach Vigil to Reserve/NFI

The Miami Dolphins have announced the team placed defensive end Dion Jordan and linebacker Zach Vigil on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list. The move clears the final two roster spots the team needed to reach the league’s 75-man roster limit which will be enforced starting at 4pm ET today.

Jordan was placed on the Active/Non-Football Injury list at the start of training camp after he was conditionally reinstated by the NFL after a 15-month suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Jordan underwent knee surgery sometime during the offseason, prior to returning to Miami, and has been sidelined since.

Vigil has a back injury which has kept him off the field since the start of training camp.

Both players will now miss at least the first six weeks of the season. The Dolphins do not count either player against the 53-man roster as long as they are on the Reserve/NFI list, and, when the league calendar reaches the end of the sixth week, they will be given the chance to activate either or both players. They then have a six week window (first day of Week 7 to the end of Week 11) to either allow the player to begin practicing, place him on injured reserve for the remainder of the year, or release him. If the player does begin practicing, he then has three weeks to be promoted to the 53-man roster, or the team can choose to place him on Injured Reserve for the remainder of the season.

The NFI list also allows a team to not pay the player during the time in which they are on the reserve list. This authorization comes from the fact that the nature of the injury is “non-football.”

The move does not come as a surprise, given the slow progress both players have been making in their returns. The Dolphins will now not have to worry about what to do with them until at least Week 7, and maybe not until Week 11.