5 Miami Dolphins Veterans Now on Roster Bubble Following Draft

The Miami Dolphins are going to have some difficult decisions on their hands this offseason as they trim their roster down from 90 players to 53 by the beginning of the 2015 regular season.

With their selections in the 2015 NFL draft, the Dolphins gave us an idea of which players should be looking over their shoulders in training camp.

With heavy depth charts at cornerback, wide receiver and running back, the Dolphins will have to trim some of the fat at those positions to make sure they have enough space to keep players at other positions. That means that, invariably, some talented players will end up looking for work by the end of the offseason workout program.

Here's a look at which Dolphins players are sitting on the bubble, with the possibility of being on the outside looking in at the end of the summer.

Rishard Matthews has been seemingly running an out-route in Miami for the past year. Last August, a report surfaced that the Dolphins were "open to trading" Matthews; they liked him enough to keep him on the roster, but not enough to ignore trade offers. Fast forward roughly six months, and it was Matthews who was asking to be traded, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. 

Matthews became a key cog in the Dolphins offense in 2013 after veteran Brandon Gibson went down with a season-ending knee injury; Matthews hauled in 41 passes for 448 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The following season, Matthews was an afterthought, and only notched 12 receptions for 135 yards and two touchdowns.

Matthews was one of the last men standing after a purge at the position, but now that the Dolphins have fortified the wide receiver corps with the additions of Kenny Stills, DeVante Parker and Tony Lippett, Matthews could be one of a couple of veterans who finds himself on the outside looking in.

The hometown fairy tale could be coming to an end for third-year running back Mike Gillislee, whose 2014 season ended before it began with a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve.

Even before that point, there were whispers that the Dolphins were not sold on Gillislee as more than a third-stringer in their offense. Of course, Gillislee might have a better case if he didn't have the exact same skill set as most of the Dolphins' other backs: LaMichael James, Damien Williams and starting running back Lamar Miller are all very similar in their style of play. 

James' saving grace could be his ability to produce on special teams; he averaged a gaudy 10.9 yards per punt return and 28.4 yards per kickoff return with the San Francisco 49ers. Williams earned some run as a receiver out of the backfield last season, catching 21 of the 27 passes thrown his way for 187 yards and a touchdown. 

The Dolphins also added Boise State running back Jay Ajayi in the fifth round. There are concerns around Ajayi's long-term durability due to some knee issues he's had over his career, but in the short-term, his presence buries Gillislee five deep on the Dolphins depth chart.

Joe Philbin has been searching for guards that fit his zone-blocking scheme ever since he joined the Dolphins in 2012. The previous regime had built the offensive line in the mold of bigger, stronger linemen to execute a man-blocking scheme, but Philbin likes his linemen to be able to move.

As a result, he has drafted two former college tackles and tried to convert them to guard: Dallas Thomas (third round, 2013) and Billy Turner (third round, 2014). Turner is still a work in progress, but Thomas' progress has not been as quick as hoped.

The Dolphins gave Thomas the first crack at the starting job at right guard, and they were so uncomfortable in what he showed that they moved center Mike Pouncey to guard and signed two street free agents: guard Daryn Colledge and center Samson Satele. Thomas was one of the worst guards in football last year, grading out at No. 58 out of 78 qualifying guards, according to Pro Football Focus. 

The Dolphins just drafted yet another guard in the fourth round, Arizona State's Jamil Douglas, and there's a strong case to be made for the rookie to start on the Dolphins' offensive front. If Douglas starts at one spot and Turner starts at the other, Thomas—once perceived as a front-runner to start—could be searching for work elsewhere.

With one addition after another to the depth chart at cornerback, the Dolphins have seemingly dug the hole deeper and deeper for young cornerbacks Jamar Taylor, Will Davis and Walt Aikens to climb out of when it comes to earning playing time in the Dolphins defense this year.

Taylor appears to have the best shot at sticking around due to the Dolphins' investment in him, and Aikens is only entering his second year; that leaves Davis as the odd man out in this battle. Brent Grimes is a lock for the roster, and the Dolphins have added veterans Brice McCain and Zack Bowman as free agents, but they also added Memphis cornerback Bobby McCain in the fifth round of the draft. 

Davis tore his ACL in November, ending his season, but he was not a big factor in the lineup before that. He only played 135 snaps on the 2014 season, according to Pro Football Focus. 

With Grimes, Taylor, the McCains, Bowman and Aikens, the Dolphins are already at six cornerbacks. There's a good chance that one of those six will not be kept. Add Davis to that list, and you can see why a crowded cornerback depth chart could lead to Davis feeling the squeeze.

There may not be any high-level government corruption involved in the Dolphins' roster decisions, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still follow the money.

Yes, the Dolphins just signed defensive tackle Earl Mitchell last offseason and gave him $5 million fully guaranteed. Most of that guaranteed money was front-loaded into the first year of Mitchell's four-year deal, though, meaning that the sixth-year pro could be cut this offseason to the tune of $3 million in salary-cap savings. The Dolphins would lose $1.5 million of his contract to dead money, but if Mitchell does not factor into a key role in the lineup, he may not be worth the money the Dolphins are paying him.

Mitchell has never been more than a part-time player in any defense; according to Pro Football Focus, he earned a career-high 553 snaps for the Houston Texans in 2013 and played 543 snaps for the Dolphins in 2014. 

With their selection of Oklahoma defensive tackle Jordan Phillips in the second round of the draft, the Dolphins have given themselves an insurance policy in the event that Mitchell doesn't do enough to earn his spot on the roster this offseason. 

Unless otherwise noted, all salary-cap and contract information provided by OverTheCap.com.