*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***
Aug 24, 1997: -- 5 Players Clean Out Lockers --
According to the Miami Herald this morning, 5 players have
cleaned out their lockers on Friday and Saturday and, even though the
official cuts haven't been announced, seemed destined to be cut today.
The five players apparently being cut are WR Scott Miller, DT
Norman Hand, S Earl Little, LB Eddie Sutter, and QB Damon Huard.
With the addition of CB Clayton Holmes, who has been suspended
by the league for at least 4 games, that leaves the Dolphins with 54
players on their active roster and they must cut at least one more
before the deadline tonight to get down to the required 53.
The most likely possibilities for other players to cut include
S Sean Hill, OG John Elmore, OT Brent Smith and one of three
linebackers - Ronnie Ward, Mike Crawford or OJ Brigance.
My Comments:
There are two surprises on the list for me - Norman Hand and
Eddie Sutter. Hand is the last member of Shula's disastrous draft
class of 1995, which included such noted luminaries as Billy Milner
and Andrew Greene.
The reason that the cutting of Hand comes as a surprise is
that I had heard that he was having a very good camp and he seemed to
be active during the preseason games, whereas Barron Tanner was all
but invisible.
Still, the coaches study a lot of game tapes before they make
their decisions and they must feel that they had good reasons.
The reason I'm surprised about Sutter is that they picked him
up to play on special teams and then cut him 3 days later after one
game. They must not have seen anything that they liked in the tapes
of the Washington game.
It hadn't dawned on me that the Dolphins wouldn't cut Holmes,
but perhaps they're waiting to see how the kick returners perform
before making a final decision on him. Does anyone out there know if
the team has to wait until his suspension is over before they can
officially cut him? I know it sounds crazy, but so is a lot of stuff
in the NFL.
Of the guys left, I think that either John Elmore, Mike
Crawford or Ronnie ward are in the most danger, although whoever is
the last player cut will undoubtedly get a chance to make the practice
squad.
Of the list above, only Huard and Little are likely to be on
the practice squad. I don't believe that Norman Hand is eligible and
I'm sure that Scott Miller and Eddie Sutter aren't. With the last
player cut, that leaves 3 players on the practice squad, giving the
Dolphins room for 2 more.
I'm still surprised that Brent Smith is on the team, because
of all the players still on the team who I've seen this summer, I
think that he looked the worst.
Related Info:
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Curt Fennell,
curt@phins.com, DOLFAN in New Rochelle (almost)
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