Dolphins make early roster churn, adding QB Brady Cook and TE Justin Joly on waiver claims

The Miami Dolphins have already reshaped their roster in the weeks immediately following their initial 53-man group, tapping the waiver wire to add seven players that other teams had discarded. The NFL’s list of waiver claims in the wake of Sunday cuts shows Miami as one of the league’s most active early players, with quarterback Brady Cook and tight end Justin Joly among the newcomers.

Waiver claims are one of the first times in the preseason cycle that teams can adjust to what they see after roster trims. For the Dolphins, it also underscores an approach that has been part of their roster-building identity in recent years, namely keeping flexibility as the competition for back-end roster spots tightens and roles solidify on the practice-squad-to-roster spectrum.

The Dolphins entered the preseason with what Yahoo Sports described as the youngest initial 53-man roster in the league, and the early turnover indicates that youth is not being used simply for its own sake. Instead, it suggests Miami is searching for the right mix of development prospects and reliable depth, while also accounting for how quickly injuries, matchups, and coaching evaluations can change the priorities from one week to the next.

Cook, a quarterback added through the waiver process, represents Miami’s ongoing need to sort out the pecking order behind its primary starter and its immediate backup. Even in preseason windows where reps are limited, organizations typically want clarity on who can execute the offense under live-game tempo, handle situational football, and steady the position for the next opponent-specific package.

Justin Joly’s presence among the claimed players reflects the same theme at a different position group. Tight ends are often auditioning for specialized roles, whether that means run-blocking reliability, special-teams value, or the ability to stretch defenses as a short-to-intermediate target. Adding a player this way can be a low-risk method to upgrade depth and create more legitimate options for practice and preseason game plans.

What the Dolphins’ waiver activity indicates most clearly is that the Dolphins’ roster is still in an “evaluation window,” not a finished product. With the early preseason cut cycle already completed, each additional claim narrows the field of who will earn a spot, and it also affects how long the organization can afford to keep experimenting with player usage.

The next steps to watch for Miami are straightforward: whether the players added via waivers earn further roster consideration, how they compare with the incumbents at their positions during continued practices, and whether Miami keeps the roster relatively stable in the final phase of the preseason.

Because this account is based on the waiver-claim list reported by Yahoo Sports, the full details of the other six players and the claiming-team circumstances are not fully enumerated here. For that reason, readers should treat this as an early snapshot of roster movement rather than a complete projection of Miami’s final regular-season depth chart.