Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones recently wrote on Twitter that he “can’t run or jump” because of the injuries he’s suffered while playing football, including the ankle and Achilles injuries that kept him out for all of last season, and that naturally cast a lot of doubt on his playing future.
Jones is not expected to announce his retirement — doing so would risk forfeiting millions in signing bonus money — but the Dolphins could make him a post-June 1 cut in order to clear $13.6 million in cap space later this year. On Wednesday, General Manager Chris Grier said the team is not currently “making any assumptions on anything and just letting him continue to attack his rehab and see what happens.”
“He’s under contract with us right now,” Grier said. “[Defensive coordinator] Vic [Fangio] is back in Florida kind of looking over the team. Obviously, he’s going to have some say in this with his scheme and what we’re doing and we’ll also talk with Byron, too. A lot of moving parts right now.”
Jones spent two seasons as a starter in Miami before missing all of 2022 and it looks like a good bet that they’ll be moving forward without him one way or another in 2023.