Dolphins Make Move with Daniels

The Miami Dolphins will be without the services of starting right guard James Daniels for at least the next month.

The team placed the free agent acquisition on injured reserve Tuesday, officially sidelining him for at least four games. Those matchups will be against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium, against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium, against the New York Jets at home and against the Carolina Panthers on the road.

The best-case scenario would have Daniels, who sustained a pec injury in the season-opening loss against the Indianapolis Colts, returning for the Week 6 game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Hard Rock Stadium on October 12.

Barring complications, the Dolphins will be utilizing one of their eight allotted IR return designations on Daniels. The team used two of them on roster cutdown day with kicker Jason Sanders and offensive lineman Andrew Meyer.

THE REPLACEMENT PLAN

With Daniels out of the lineup, the Dolphins will have to come up with a new starting five against the Patriots in their home opener Sunday.

We offered some suggestions in an earlier story involving several different possibilities, and yet another option surfaced Tuesday when the Dolphins signed former Patriots first-round pick Cole Strange off the Cleveland Browns practice squad.

That move became official at the same time as Daniels going on IR.

DANIELS' QUICK EXIT

Daniels was nursing an ankle injury entering opening day and suffered the upper-body injury after just three snaps against the Colts. Reserve offensive lineman Kion Smith replaced Daniel at right guard. 

Daniels, now in his eighth season, played just four games for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season due to an Achilles injury. While his injury from Sunday isn’t related, it’s a concerning development that just plays into the 2025 campaign. 

As one of three new starters on the offensive line, Daniels signed a three-year contract over the offseason to take over as one of Miami’s top offensive linemen. Without the vet, the Dolphins are now turning to Smith, who hasn’t played since 2023 after suffering a torn ACL last preseason. 

Smith played 134 snaps during the preseason, allowing three sacks and eight quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. He played the majority of his snaps at left tackle, with only 15 coming at right guard. 

A 2021 undrafted free agent, Smith played 70 snaps that season, 54 at left tackle and 16 at right tackle, back in 2023. He didn’t allow a quarterback pressure and was penalized just one time. 

The game against the Colts was his first regular-season action at right guard, playing between center Aaron Brewer and right tackle Austin Jackson.

Smith joined the Atlanta Falcons after playing at Fayetteville State in college, but didn’t make the 53-man roster as a rookie in 2021. He joined the Dolphins' practice squad early in the season and signed a reserve/futures contract with the franchise that offseason.

Daniels played at least 15 games in three straight seasons for the Steelers and the Chicago Bears before the injury last season. A 2018 second-round pick, he joined the Dolphins on a deal worth up to $24 million after allowing just two sacks over the last three seasons. 

Daniels landed Miami’s largest free agent contract, and was signed to stabilize an undersized offensive line that had struggled with injuries in recent years. He didn’t practice Friday and was listed as questionable on the final injury report of the week.

Miami’s offensive line surrendered 2.5 sacks per game last season, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was sacked three times in the first half against the Colts. Daniels was not on the field for Miami’s second drive, which ended with a Tagovailoa fumble.