The Miami Dolphins’ roster has apparently been in a state of flux the entire season. Coming into the 2026 season, very few positions on the team appeared to have a defined room.
One of those few positions that was even seen as a strength for the team was the running back room, which featured Pro Bowl running back De’Von Achane and former draft picks Ollie Gordon and Jaylen Wright.
Additionally, the team had veteran Carlos Washington and acquired former fourth-round pick Jarquez Hunter in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams that saw the Dolphins give up free agent signing Tutu Atwell.
Unfortunately, Miami suffered a devastating injury at the position as De’Von Achane suffered a torn ACL that will force him to miss the remainder of the 2026 season. While in theory, Achane’s injury could provide an opportunity to one of Miami’s backup running backs, one of them was unable to make his mark on the team, leading to his release. Despite this, he has quickly found a new NFL team.
Former Miami Dolphins Running Back Signs With New Orleans Saints Practice Squad
Mike Triplet posted on X: “Saints signed RB Jarquez Hunter to practice squad. A fourth-round pick of the Rams last year only appeared on special teams, then got traded to Dolphins this year and was recently cut from their practice squad.”
Hunter was released by the Dolphins’ practice squad on Tuesday. He was only without an NFL team for one day.
Regarding Miami releasing Hunter, Dolphins Wire’s Mike Masala wrote: “Hunter, 23, played collegiately at Auburn from 2021-24. He rushed for 3,378 yards and 25 touchdowns on 6.3 yards per attempt and caught 68 passes for an additional 558 yards and four scores. The Los Angeles Rams took him in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft but he didn’t receive a single touch as a rookie.
Miami acquired Hunter this offseason in a trade that sent wide receiver Tutu Atwell to Los Angeles. Hunter landed on the Dolphins’ practice squad. While they had a huge need for running back depth after De’Von Achane went down, Hunter didn’t get a chance.”
Revisiting Miami’s Trade for Hunter
Despite Hunter not making an impact for the Dolphins this season, Dolphins on SI’s Alain Poupart argued that the trade was still a good one for Miami, as he wrote: “While the move didn’t pan out, acquiring Hunter still was a good move because it was a no-risk deal with the potential for good value, and that’s because Atwell wasn’t going to make the 53-man roster coming out of training camp. He was going to be released, and the trade actually took the Dolphins off the hook for the small guaranteed salary they had committed to Atwell.
Hunter panning out would have been a great bonus. That it didn’t happen was no big deal, but it again proved the idea that we’ve repeated many times about tempering expectations whenever the Dolphins bring in a player who basically was discarded by another organization.”
Ex-Dolphins Running Back Finds New Team 1 Day After Release