The Miami Dolphins don’t have much to play for this season, so the best thing they can do is identify and accumulate talent to try and build up their roster for years ahead.
They had that chance recently when they put in a waiver claim for a 26-year-old defensive tackle, Jonah Laulu, who has started 22 games in the NFL.
Given the Dolphins’ 1-5 record, you’d think they got Laulu.
Instead, though, the athletic defensive tackle is going to the Tennessee Titans. An unfortunate quirk in the NFL schedule with bye weeks had a part to play.
Why Dolphins Didn’t Get Jonah Laulu
It was reported on Wednesday that the Titans had landed Laulu off of waivers.
The report emerged on Thursday that the Dolphins were one of the teams who had placed a claim on Laulu.
The full list, shared by NFL insider Jordan Schultz, included the Dolphins, Colts, Jets, Patriots and Texans — as well as the Titans.
The problem is that the Titans had the highest waiver priority claim.
The waiver claim process depends on each team’s record at the time of the player being waived. The worst team in the league gets first crack at every waived player, and so on.
The Titans have the second-worst record in the league, behind just the winless Los Angeles Chargers. So as soon as the Titans put a claim in for Laulu, as long as the Chargers hadn’t done the same, then he was bound for Tennessee.
For the Dolphins, the bummer is the reason the Titans have a worse record. Both teams have just one win.
But Miami has already had its bye, so through seven weeks, they’re 1-5 along with the bye week. The Titans haven’t had their bye yet, so through seven weeks, they’re 1-6 — and yes, 1-6 is a worse record than 1-5.
So the waiver order didn’t require any kind of tiebreakers. The Dolphins were a single spot away from Laulu due to their bye week.
Who is Jonah Laulu?
Laulu is a 6-foot-5, 289-pound defensive tackle with 5.5 career sacks across 22 NFL starts and 39 total games.
He came into the NFL as a seventh-round pick by the Colts in the 2024 NFL Draft after a college career that included stops at Hawaii and Oklahoma.
The Colts never actually kept Laulu, though — they waived him at the end of his rookie preseason, and the Raiders added him the next day.
Now 26, Laulu was in his third season with the Raiders. Laulu played all 17 games in each of his first two seasons, including five starts as a rookie and 15 starts last year.
In 2024, Laulu had 35 tackles, including a sack. In 2025, Laulu made 51 tackles and had 4.0 sacks.
This season, Laulu had played in five games so far for Vegas and had five tackles with half a sack before he was waived earlier this week.
And instead of coming to Miami, Laulu just barely is going to end up in Tennessee.
Dolphins Missed Adding 22-Game Starter Because Of Bye Week