MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan assessed his first 53-man roster Monday evening after Sunday’s cuts to the initial active roster and a flurry of moves Monday afternoon.
“We look at ourselves honestly, and any chance to get better, we’re going to get better,” Sullivan said of his process, after the team added eight new players to the active roster Monday.
“We’re not going to tell ourselves lies when things aren’t getting done at the level that they need to get done, and we’re going to continually turn over rocks to get better at every turn.”
Sullivan detailed what he sees in the two new quarterbacks acquired in the last two days, Kyle McCord and Brady Cook.
McCord was added in a trade with the Green Bay Packers as a second-year passer out of Syracuse who spent last season on the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad and had an impressive preseason.
“I’ve always been a fan of his,” Sullivan said. “When you watch the kid play, he’s a keep-the-train-on-the-tracks kind of guy. I think he processes the game quick. I think he throws an accurate, catchable football. He runs the offense, and I know he’s a smart guy. I know he’s a competitive guy.”
McCord would immediately be the backup quarterback to starter Malik Willis this season.
“We obviously want No. 2 (Willis) out there, but if something happened, I thought he could run the offense and help us give us a chance to win games.”
In trading for McCord, Sullivan made a deal with his old boss, Packers GM Brian Gutekunst.
“It was kind of cool, to be honest,” Sullivan said. “It was easy. He knows me. I know him. We know how each other thinks, and it was really kind of right to the point. And he thought it was good for the Packers. I thought it was good for the Dolphins. And we did what we did.”
The Dolphins were in need of a new backup quarterback after former No. 2 Quinn Ewers had a disappointing training camp, compounded by injury. Regardless of whether his ailments, including a hurt groin this preseason affected Ewers’ play, Sullivan saw the Dolphins had to upgrade.
“At the time, when I made the decision, I was set,” Sullivan said. “I think Quinn has an opportunity to play in this league for a while and do well. I think he needed a fresh start. And I just think, look, this is a performance-based business, and it was not getting done at the level that it needed to get done at. Quinn knew that. We had a lot of conversations. I think Quinn, if he was standing right here, would tell you that. I just think it was time to kind of move on, get another fresh start and us start fresh with somebody else as well.”
Then, earlier Monday, Cook was among seven waiver-wire additions, with another player, defensive end Malik Herring, signed as a free agent.
“Brady’s the ultimate competitor, tough as nails, got a lot of swag,” Sullivan said of Cook. “It upgraded our room. … I felt we needed to turn a couple of pages and get better in there, in performance and production.”
Sullivan said he did not expect to land seven players through waivers, “but I’m glad that we did,” he noted.
“We got incrementally better, which is always the goal.”
The most notable Sunday cut was veteran linebacker Tyrel Dodson, a starter last season. His days appeared to be numbered in Miami once the team selected Texas Tech rookie Jacob Rodriguez at his position in the April draft. Rodriguez and Dodson competed for the job, with the rookie winning it.
“T-Dot’s a pro. He competed, and I think it was a fair competition,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, we have a lot of like for Jacob Rodriguez; that’s never been a secret. I thought T-Dot showed up, he was a pro, he competed … but I think it really just highlights how we feel about the young guys on our team.”
This story will be updated.
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