Dolphins re-sign Sam Young, waive Maurice Smith

The Dolphins have re-signed offensive tackle Sam Young and have waived second-year safety Maurice Smith.

Young, 31, will presumably resume his role as the team’s primary swing tackle after being released just yesterday to make room for recently signed center Travis Swanson. The team could have released and re-signed Young for contractual reasons, as it’s unlikely the coaching staff and front office simply had second thoughts and chose to say goodbye to Smith instead. Per NFL rules, a player’s salary is not guaranteed if they are signed after week 1. It’s possible Young was generating too much interest on the open market, so the team chose to re-sign him now as opposed to waiting until next week. The same situation occurred between the Dolphins and the veteran tackle last season.

Young has played in 18 games for Miami over the past two seasons, seven of which were starts. With Young, the team now has nine offensive linemen on its 53-man roster.

As for Smith, the former undrafted free agent out of Georgia impressed this offseason enough to earn a spot on the initial 53-man roster, but will now go through the league’s wavier system. If he clears waivers without being claimed by another team, it’s possible the Dolphins add him to the practice squad. Although the practice squad is currently at capacity with ten players, the team could elect to make space given Smith’s impressive training camp and preseason. The Dolphins currently have four other safeties on the roster in Reshad Jones, T.J. McDonald, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Walt Aikens.