Dolphins make another roster adjustment, releasing lineman Kion Smith and moving on from Carter Warren

The Miami Dolphins have continued their offseason roster shakeup, parting ways with offensive linemen Kion Smith and Carter Warren as they look for the right mix of depth and development ahead of the 2026 NFL season, according to Yahoo Sports. The adjustments reflect a common theme for teams in the middle of roster building, where the focus is less on one individual transaction and more on creating a reliable pipeline of players who can handle training-camp and regular-season roles.

Smith’s status changed via release, a move that typically suggests the coaching staff decided they could pursue other options at his position grouping and allocation of roster spots. In the NFL, multiple early-career and veteran-prospect linemen can be in a constant state of evaluation, because teams must balance physical fit, scheme compatibility, and how players respond to the day-to-day pace of offseason work.

Warren’s situation was also altered, with Yahoo Sports reporting that he was waived/injured. Unlike a straightforward release, a waived/injured designation ties the decision to a health component, though the exact nature or timeline of any ailment was not detailed in the report. From a roster-management standpoint, such designations can affect where a player lands next and how the team manages its available count while preparing for the next phase of offseason operations.

The Dolphins were not only removing players. Yahoo Sports also noted that Miami signed Major Burns earlier on Monday. Burns is identified as a standout UFL safety, and his addition points to Miami’s broader priority of infusing new talent into the secondary while simultaneously reshaping the front end of the roster on offense.

Offensive line turnover is particularly meaningful because it can influence continuity in both pass protection and run blocking. Even minor changes to depth players can alter how groups are organized during team drills and how the staff evaluates who is most capable of stepping into a defined role when injuries or performance changes happen. For Miami, the departures of Smith and Warren suggest the staff wants to reset certain evaluation paths or open space for alternative options.

At the same time, it is important to note that an early offseason release or waived/injured move does not necessarily indicate the end of the player’s NFL prospects. For many linemen, the process can include landing on practice squads, joining another organization’s competition, or returning to a roster if circumstances change later in the offseason. For the Dolphins, these kinds of transactions are part of maintaining flexibility while they continue to identify players who can meet the team’s standards in a specific scheme window.

What to watch next is whether Miami fills the vacated spots with internal candidates or targeted additions, and how the team’s offensive line depth is shaped as the offseason progresses toward training camp. The Dolphins’ parallel activity on defense, highlighted by the addition of a UFL safety, also raises the question of how quickly the new arrivals are integrated into offseason routines and whether the team’s priorities shift from experimentation toward stabilization. The roster moves today are the opening steps in a longer process, not a final verdict on the depth chart for the 2026 season.