Over the past year, the Miami Dolphins traded away Jaylen Waddle, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jaelan Phillips in moves that resulted in the team increasing their draft capital.
The goal in mind with those moves was for the team to get younger and cheaper. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan expressed that his philosophy on building this Dolphins team would be to draft and develop.
That led to the team selecting 13 players in the 2026 NFL Draft. And while some of those players have impressed, others appear on the outside looking in at Miami’s 53-man roster.
Miami Dolphins Rookie Tight End Projected to Be Waived
In Dolphins on SI’s Alain Poupart’s latest 53-man roster projection, he left off tight end Seydou Traore, who was selected in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft by Miami. Instead, Poupart predicted the team would go with four players in the tight ends and fullbacks rooms. Those four players were Greg Dulcich, Will Kacmarek, D.J. Herman and Ben Sims.
Poupart wrote: “While we feel pretty confident about four being the target number here, what’s unclear is the injury status of Ben Sims, who hasn’t practiced in a few weeks, as well as whether the Dolphins actually would go ahead and cut their rookie fifth-round pick. Based on what we’ve seen, Herman has earned his spot as a rookie free agent.”
Traore getting cut as a rookie fifth-round pick would certainly indicate that the team was disappointed in his progress during training camp.
Regarding Traore’s training camp and the potential of him getting cut, The Miami Herald’s Omar Kelly said on The Dolphins Collective, “Do you really think anybody is going to claim him? I never really understood that selection. I always felt that selection should have been a quarterback.”
Later in the show, both Poupart and Kelly agreed that the Dolphins should cut Traore. As part of the international player program, Traore could return to the team after being waived and not count toward a roster spot. Poupart previously wrote: “If the Dolphins waive Traore, then he’ll be subject to the same rules as other players and could be claimed by any other team.
Under that scenario, if Traore went unclaimed, then the Dolphins could bring him back to the practice squad and he wouldn’t count against the 16-player limit for that group.”
Seydou Traore Player Profile
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein viewed Miami’s selection of Traore as a reach, as he projected him as a sixth- or seventh-round talent. Zierlein wrote of Traore: “Traore is a “F” tight end with good athleticism, average size and a need for development. His route-running is unfocused but fixable. He has soft hands and good body control from his background as a goalkeeper. While he has decent vertical speed, he must improve his separation burst out of breaks to uncover against man coverage. He’s not built for in-line blocking but has impressive moments when lead-blocking in space. Traore is a practice squad candidate with enough upside to find a roster spot down the road.”
Unfortunately, his selection has not worked out well for the Dolphins during training camp. Despite lacking weapons for quarterback Malik Willis and an established tight end, Traore has not made his impact felt on the team.
In four years of college football, Traore totaled 1,482 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. In two preseason games with the Dolphins, Traore has only one reception for three yards.
Dolphins Rookie Draft Pick Called Out Amid Cut Speculation