Left tackle Terron Armstead remains under contract with the Dolphins through the 2026 season, but the team’s plans for the 2025 season don’t include him.
That was the message from head coach Mike McDaniel when he spoke to reporters at a press conference from the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday. Armstead has contemplated retirement in recent offseasons and indicated that he would be doing the same this year after Week 18.
McDaniel said on Tuesday that Armstead has not shared his decision with the team, but that the Dolphins will be approaching free agency and the draft as if Armstead will not be on their roster.
The Dolphins selected Patrick Paul in the second round last year with an eye on having him take over as a starting tackle at some point. Tuesday’s comments suggest that point could come this fall.
The Dolphins claimed cornerback Ryan “Bump” Cooper Jr. off waivers from the Seahawks, the team announced Monday.
Cooper entered the NFL as an undrafted college free agent in 2024, signing with the Ravens. He spent most of the season on the practice squad, appearing in one game.
He played six special teams snaps against the Browns on Oct. 27
The Ravens cut him Nov. 19, and the Seahawks signed him to their practice squad a week later.
Cooper signed a futures contract with Seattle at the end of the season.
He finished his collegiate career at Oregon State, appearing in 23 games in two seasons and recording 82 tackles, 1.5 sacks, four interceptions and 22 passes defensed. He was a two-year starter at the College of San Mateo in California prior to transferring to Oregon State.
Eddie Hill, who spent six seasons playing running back in the NFL, has died at the age of 67.
The Dolphins announced on Monday that Hill died. Hill had been battling brain cancer for several years.
After playing his college football at Memphis, Hill was selected by the Rams in the second round of the 1979 NFL draft. After two years with the Rams, Hill was traded to the Dolphins.
In his NFL career Hill had 120 carries for 443 yards, 26 catches for 171 yards, and 17 kickoff returns for 330 yards.
The Dolphins reportedly won’t be using the franchise tag on safety Jevón Holland. Holland also thinks that the Dolphins are ready to let him walk.
Via Adam Stites of USA Today, Holland believes the team’s recent social-media posts mean that he’s not in the organization’s plans.
“Transparently, seeing the Dolphins post things like the Valentine’s Day stuff or like any kind of edit and things like that,” Holland said on his podcast, Breakin’ House Rules. “You can see guys that may not be here next year or may be somewhere else are just not in it. I’m following them on Instagram, right? And I’m not in none of this [expletive] no more. I’m like, OK, they’ve kinda moved on.
“I get it. I understand the decision to do that because I would do the same if I was in the same position. But from my perspective, I’m just watching it like — I get it, but like, OK, this is the effects of being a free agent. Your team, or what was your team, starts to phase you out, in a way.”
Beyond the social-media messages, Holland would know if the Dolphins were trying to re-sign him. If there’s been no effort to do it by now, there likely won’t be — especially with the Scouting Combine a/k/a Tampering Central starting this week.
Holland, 24, was a second-round pick in 2021. At the time, Brian Flores was the head coach. That puts the Vikings on the radar screen for a potential reunion between Holland and Flores.
Soon-to-be-free-agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers has two factors regarding his next team. One is obvious. The other becomes a lot fuzzier, and it will limit his options.
First, as Rodgers said, they have to want you. That’s true for any transaction. If the team doesn’t want the player, it’s hard for the player to play for the team.
Second, as Rodgers also said, it needs to be a “good team.” So which teams would qualify?
Several teams are likely if not definitely looking for 2025 starters: The Steelers, Browns, Titans, Raiders, Giants. Which of those is “good”?
The objective assessment is irrelevant. Rodgers’s opinion is the only one that matters.
Of course a “not good” team can become a “good” team if Rodgers plays well. But he didn’t apply that caveat. He said a “good team,” presumably with or without him.
From that list, who’s “good”? The Steelers are the best. They made the playoffs in 2024, without the kind of high-end quarterback performance that Rodgers could provide.
The Titans are in a weak division, and Rodgers could allow them to compete with the Texans for the AFC South title. The issue in Nashville continues to be the presence of 13-year Packers executive Chad Brinker as the latest guy with final say over the football operation. Does he want a Rodgers reunion? Does Rodgers, given his well-documented feelings about the Green Bay front office, want Brinker?
The Browns could be a “good team.” It’s harder to make that argument when their best player wants out, however.
The Giants seemingly need more help than Rodgers could supply to compete with the Eagles, Commanders, and Cowboys.
Other teams are possible. The Vikings would have to decide whether to roll with 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy or roll the dice on a year with Rodgers (which would continue the Brett Favre career arc). The Rams could be interested if they trade Matthew Stafford, even if Stafford is four years younger and currently better. (Both Minnesota and L.A. seemingly fall within the “good” category.)
The Colts could want an in-house alternative to Anthony Richardson. The Saints still haven’t made a firm decision about Derek Carr. The Dolphins need a better backup to Tua Tagovailoa. (That said, having Rodgers around would be less than ideal for Tua.) And the Seahawks could, in theory, decide to shift from Geno Smith to Rodgers. (While G.M. John Schneider worked for the Packers when Rodgers was drafted, coach Mike Macdonald has said repeatedly that Smith is their guy.)
In the end, Rodgers might have to relax his definition of “good team” to be the “best of the not-objectively-good teams that want me.” It still remains to be seen whether anyone will.
Really, there’s a chance that no one does. It’s been more than a week since the Jets announced Rodgers will be released, and there’s yet to be a report regarding any team that intends to pursue him.
We’ll likely find out more next week, when the NFL descends on Indy for the Scouting Combine and Rodgers’s future becomes one of the hottest topics. If teams are interested, someone will say something to someone else at some point.
Until then, there’s no clear reason to think that the first of Rodgers’s two factors will be satisfied.
