Dolphins Close Door on Disappointing Draft Pick

The Cam Smith chapter is over in Miami.

The Miami Dolphins announced Tuesday they had waived the cornerback from the reserve/non-football illness list, closing the book on a massively disappointing stint for the 2023 second-round pick from South Carolina.

This was the only official transaction the Dolphins made Tuesday. The team likely will place Tyreek Hill on injured reserve and announce the signing of veteran wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. Wednesday when the team returns to practice to start preparations for their game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 5.

Smith was placed on NFI on August 27 when the Dolphins signed veteran tackle Kendall Lamm, one day after Smith made the initial 53-man roster.

In announcing the roster move back in August, GM Chris Grier praised Smith's work in the latter stages of training camp after he missed some time with a hamstring injury.

"Cam had some of his best ball the past two weeks," Grier said. "He’s been really good, so we’ll see what happens. We’ll work through it and then we’ll see what happens down the road.”

Smith was eligible to come off NFI and be activated this week, but the Dolphins instead just decided to cut ties with the cornerback.

Over his first two seasons with Miami, Smith appeared in 21 games with zero starts.

As a rookie in 2023, he played 15 games but got only 20 snaps on defense after falling out of favor with then-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in training camp after what appeared to be a strong start to training camp.

Smith battled injuries in 2024 and was limited to six games, though he saw more action on defense with 133 total snaps.

Entering this critical third season, Smith found himself passed on the depth chart by former undrafted free agents Storm Duck and Ethan Bonner, and rookie minicamp tryout signing Kendall Sheffield.

Smith will be subject to waivers, and if he goes unclaimed then will be free to sign with any other team.

LOOKING AT LINEBACKERS

While the players were having their day off Tuesday, the Dolphins worked out three linebackers.

The three were Amari Burney from the University of Florida, Amari Gainer from North Carolina, and Caleb Johnson from Houston Baptist.

Johnson is a four-year veteran who has played 65 games with the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars, with practically all of his playing time coming on special teams. He spent training camp this summer with the Atlanta Falcons.