On Friday, the NFL reinstated defensive end Dion Jordan. On Saturday, Jordan rejoined the Dolphins.
“He is in the building,” coach Adam Gase said, via the team’s official website. “There’s a certain protocol that the league has put out as far as what we need to follow. We’re allowed to have certain conversations. He’s allowed to do certain type of things or certain areas that he’s allowed to be around. Obviously, we’re taking everything very slowly.
“We’re trying to make sure that we do everything by the book, exactly the way the league wants us to do it. He’s trying to do a good job of doing exactly what he’s told to do. We are like, you talk about like step one of like 500. It’s going to take some time for us to make sure that we do every little thing right for this thing to turn out the right way.”
If Jordan is on the roster as of Monday, the Dolphins will owe him a $1.7 million roster bonus. However, as Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald has explained, the Dolphins will retain the roster bonus as partial repayment of the $3.35 million he owes the team in signing bonus money forfeited via his past suspensions.
The CBA allows teams to retain bonus money and salary in order to settle debts over forfeited bonus money. This means that Jordan could be working for free in 2016 and beyond in order to justify retention of the $3.35 million he owes the Dolphins in the wake of his most recent suspension.
That said, the Dolphins could still choose to sever ties with Jordan, avoiding the $1.7 million and still retaining the right to pursue the $3.35 million. For now, it seems they’ll welcome Jordan back, help him stay in the league’s good graces -- and help themselves to his $1.7 million bonus and up to another $1.65 million in future pay.