Dolphins Pick Up Defensive Player from Green Bay

The Miami Dolphins filled their one roster opening Thursday by bringing in another former member of the Green Bay Packers.

The Dolphins claimed defensive tackle James Ester off waivers from the Packers after they cut him earlier this week. Ester spent the past two seasons on the Green Bay practice squad where new Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley got to work with him.

Ester has yet to appear in an NFL regular season after joining the Packers as an undrafted rookie free agent from Northern Illinois in 2024.

Ester, who at 6-3, 289, is a bit undersized for the defensive tackle position, started 43 games at Northern Illinois, where he was a team captain.

He joined a defensive tackle group that includes five returning players from last season — Zach Sieler, Matthew Butler, and the three 2025 draft picks, Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers — along with newcomer Keith Cooper Jr., Alex Huntley and 2026 rookie free agents Rene Konga and Khalil Saunders.

THE OTHER GREEN BAY CONNECTIONS

Along with quarterback Malik Willis and safety Zayne Anderson, the Dolphins also feature former Packers assistant coaches Sean Duggan, Miami's new offensive coordinator, Ryan Downard and Wendel Davis.

Ester filled the roster opening created when the Dolphins placed rookie free agent running back Le'Veon Moss on the reserve/retired list.

The Dolphins now have 91 players on their roster, but rookie fifth-round Seydou Traore, the tight end from Mississippi State, has a roster exemption as part of the International Player Pathway Program.

As with all rookie free agents at a position with several returning players, Ester faces a tough road to try to earn a spot on the 53-man roster, though his familiarity with Hafley no doubt will help his cause.

Also Thursday, the signing of veteran former Dolphins defensive tackle Benito Jones as a free agent with the Las Vegas became official.

Jones started 23 games for the Dolphins the past two seasons, including eight in 2025.

He is the only one of the members of the defensive tackles from last season who's not back.

While no financial terms for Jones' deal with Las Vegas were disclosed, he won't figure into the compensatory draft pick formula regardless because those signings need to happen before the end of April — the Monday after the draft, to be precise — until a rare UFA tender is placed on a player, like the Pittsburgh Steelers did with QB Aaron Rodgers.