*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***

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Aug 28, 1995: -- Roster Cutdown --

The Dolphins announced their final cuts yesterday to allow them to reach the 53 player limit mandated by the NFL.

Cut were RB Brent Moss, DT William Gaines, WR Demeris Johnson, CB Calvin Jackson, S Chico Nelson, DE Tyoka Jackson, and TE Joe Planansky.

Also, 4th round draft pick Pete Mitchell was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars for former Dolphin wide receiver Mike Williams. Williams was reported to have been having trouble with Coach Tom Coughlin. Mitchell, who played for Coughlin when he was at Boston College, is being reunited with his old coach.

Also in the news, running back Irving Spikes was arrested Saturday for allegedly beating his estranged wife. Spikes was released Sunday after agreeing to enroll in a domestic violence counseling program.

Spikes and his wife Stacey are in the midst of a divorce, but were living together during training camp. Spikes is alleged to have knocked Stacey down and tried to choke her.

Coach Don Shula was not pleased with the incident and immediately placed Spikes on a season long probation.

In other football news, fullback James Saxon was cut by the Kansas City Chiefs and Barry Foster was cut by the Carolina Panthers.

My Comments:

The big surprise of the cuts (to me, at least) was defensive tackle William Gaines. I had heard that Gaines, a 5th round draft pick a year ago, was doing some good work in camp this year. Given that fact and the fact that Norman Hand was injured through much of training camp, I expected Hand or Ed Hawthorne to be cut and Gaines to be on the team.

Along those same lines, Hand and Hawthorne both made the final cut despite the fact that Hand was injured through much of training camp and Hawthorne was an undrafted rookie free agent. The only other undrafted rookie to make the team was Lee McClinton, who is really only there because of the question marks about Keith Byars.

As far as Spikes is concerned, the incident sounds serious, but hopefully won't be repeated. According to Drew Rosenhaus (Irving Spikes' agent), Stacey will not be pressing charges against her soon-to-be ex-husband.

The news about Saxon is interesting, because the Dolphins are thin at fullback and Saxon could step right in and fill a backup slot.

The news about Barry Foster is certainly intriguing, but given that he was cut because of injury problems, I doubt that the Dolphins will be interested in him, especially with the Deion Derby still in progress.