The Miami Dolphins got started making cuts Monday toward the initial 53-player active roster ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline.
Veteran nickel cornerback Mike Hilton was released Monday, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus, confirming an initial ESPN report.
Hilton, 31, was signed early in training camp when fellow nickel corner Kader Kohou was lost for the season with a knee injury. Hilton has 56 starts under his belt in his career and was initially expected to be a core piece to the secondary.
It was peculiar, though, that Hilton never really got much run with the first-team defense in camp. Meanwhile, the Dolphins worked rookie cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. plenty in the slot and like what they see out of him.
Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver was asked why Hilton didn’t play in the Aug. 16 preseason game against the Detroit Lions while other cornerbacks did.
“I think we know what Mike (Hilton) is,” Weaver said. “Mike has played a lot of snaps in this league. I think there’s probably some younger guys we wanted to get out there and make sure we saw at certain positions. That’s all that was.”
Running back Aaron Shampklin was notified he was waived, according to multiple reports citing his agent, including NFL Network.
Shampklin was signed Aug. 11 following the Dolphins’ draw in the preseason opener at the Chicago Bears. He and fellow running back Mike Boone were signed the same day after veteran running back Alexander Mattison was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a neck injury suffered in Chicago.
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Boone outperformed Shampklin in the two exhibition games, even going for a 7-yard touchdown in Saturday’s preseason finale win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Boone also got cut Monday, according to the Miami Herald, as he too always seemed like a roster longshot, unless Miami had bad injury news on second-year running back Jaylen Wright.
Wide receiver A.J. Henning was waived, per ESPN. The Herald also reported cornerback Ethan Robinson, offensive linemen Jackson Carman and Addison West and defensive lineman Ben Stille were among Dolphins cuts Monday.
More Dolphins cuts are expected Monday before Tuesday is the big day when the team gets down to its initial 53 players.
This story will be updated.
