Blake Ferguson‘s five-year tenure in Miami has come to an end. The veteran long snapper was released by the Dolphins on Thursday, per a team announcement. 
Ferguson took over deep snapping duties in 2020, his rookie campaign. The former sixth-rounder remained in that role throughout his rookie contract, and he landed a three-year extension in 2023. Ferguson did not miss a contest during his first four seasons in the league, but in 2024 he was limited to only five games.
The 28-year-old spent much of the campaign on the reserve/non-football injury list but the reason why remains unclear. In Ferguson’s absence, the Dolphins relied on a number of replacements during the season. None of Zach Triner, Matt Overton or Jake McQuaide are under contract at this point, but that could soon change given the decision to move on from Ferguson. Two years remained on the latter’s deal.
None of Ferguson’s base salaries for 2025 or ’26 were guaranteed, however. As a result, this release will yield $1.17MM in cap savings without generating a dead money charge. It will be interesting to see if Ferguson will draw interest from other teams once his health issue is resolved. In the meantime, the Dolphins will move in a different direction at the position.
The Dolphins also announced that three players have been waived from their offseason roster. Defensive tackle Neil Farrell – who made seven appearances with Miami last year and signed a futures deal in January – is among them. In addition, cornerback Ryan Cooper Jr. (who was claimed off waivers in February) and offensive lineman Chasen Hines have been let go. If any member of the trio is claimed off waivers, they will immediately join a new team in advance of minicamps. Otherwise, they will join Ferguson in free agency.
One of his buddies comes over to console him, he tosses him a beer from 15 yards away.
It always amazes me that teams dedicate a roster spot to somebody to be the LS. Why not have the backup C do it and carry somebody with more versatility?
Even regular snapping is hard to do well consistently. A lot of guards don’t work at center for that reason. Not every team even has a backup center they feel *good* about snapping to the quarterback.
Long snaps that go wrong are very likely to be huge negative plays, especially on punt attempts. Even the teams that punt the least in football do it more than 40 times a year. A punt snap gone haywire can really mess up a game.
It’s also not an expensive roster spot. Even the best ones only get a couple million guaranteed.
Bill Belichick has a youtube video explaining why.