Roster Updates

There's been some movement on the roster over the past couple of days. Here's a rundown of what's gone on:

* Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald is reporting that the reports claiming RB Ricky Williams would be eligible for reinstatement in September are incorrect. Instead, he will not be eligible to apply for reinstatement until sometime in October. This means that there is very little chance that Ricky will return to the NFL before the Week 6 trade deadline. I was hoping that he'd be able to come back before then and Miami would somehow be able to swing a deal for something in the range of a seventh-round draft pick. If he does in fact return, it'd be nice to get some value in return for him.

* Thankfully, WR Ted Ginn Jr. is back returning kicks. I understand the desire to bring him along gradually, but it would be an absolute shame to withhold his amazing return skills. I wrote an article criticizing Cam Cameron's decision to use Ronnie Brown as the returner instead of Ginn. You can read that article here.

* Before training camp began, I predicted that the starting offensive line would be from left to right: Carey, Liwienski, Satele, Hadnot, and Shelton. Even though the first-team line went through countless permutations over the course of training camp, it finally ended up where I thought it would all along. Liwienski locked down the left guard spot and L.J. Shelton very recently reclaimed the starting right tackle spot after seeing all the snaps on the second team throughout the offseason. Of course, very few of those guys should feel secure in their starting job. With the new additions of T Cory Lekkerkerker and G Gene Mruczkowski, the starters will be pushed for playing time.

* As most everyone expected, Ronnie Brown was named the starting RB. Jesse Chatman will still see a lot of touches and could start in the backfield at the same time as Brown.

* The team claimed DE Rob Ninkovich off waivers from the Saints. Ninkovich (6'2", 252 lbs.) was a fifth-round draft choice of the Saints in 2006. He played in the first three games of his rookie season, all in a reserve role. He recorded 4 tackles (2 on special teams) and a pass defensed. He was then placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. Ninkovich will probably play outside linebacker in Miami's 3-4 defense. He will also be expected to play on special teams. In order to make room on the roster for Ninkovich, Miami waived rookie LB Kelvin Smith. The Dolphins still have one open spot on their practice squad so they may look to sign him there if he clears waivers.

* The team continued to fill its practice squad by adding G Tala Esera, WR Kerry Reed, and WR Chandler Williams. Esera and Reed were both in camp with the Dolphins this offseason. Williams was an undrafted college free agent with the Vikings this offseason before being waived.

The Dolphins practice squad now looks like this (there is one more open spot):

1. WR Marvin Allen (International Practice Squad player, does not count against roster limits)
2. TE Aaron Halterman
3. T Julius Wilson
4. G Marquay Love
5. S Tuff Harris
6. G Tala Esera
7. WR Kerry Reed
8. WR Chandler Williams