The Miami Dolphins did not need another body for Sunday’s opener, and they added one anyway.
The team announced Saturday that edge defender Clelin Ferrell has been elevated from the practice squad to the active roster for the Week 1 game against the Las Vegas Raiders, a move that puts the former No. 4 overall pick on the field at Allegiant Stadium against the franchise that drafted him seven years ago.
The timing is what makes it worth a second look. Miami’s final injury report of the week carried no game-status designations at all, so Jeff Hafley has all 53 of his players available.
Week 1 elevations are usually a reaction to a bad practice week; this one reads more like a decision about how the Dolphins want to defend a specific opponent.
A debut two weeks in the making
Ferrell’s path to a Dolphins uniform has taken several detours. He signed with Miami on July 27, just ahead of training camp and then lost a large chunk of the summer to an undisclosed injury that Hafley said in August would keep him out for “weeks,” which made his roster case a race against the calendar.
He won that race, briefly. Ferrell survived the initial cut to 53 on Aug. 30, then lost his spot roughly 24 hours later when Miami was awarded an NFL-high seven waiver claims and needed the room, a churn that also brought in veteran defensive lineman Malik Herring.
Dolphin Nation covered that one-day turnover here. Ferrell was back on the practice squad on Sept. 1, and Saturday’s elevation means he will make his Dolphins debut in the opener after all.
There is a cost attached, even if it is a small one. NFL rules allow a practice squad player to be elevated three times per stint on the squad during the regular season, so Sunday uses one of Ferrell’s three.
If the Dolphins want him around beyond a couple of games, the next step would be a spot on the 53.
Why now: the edge math
The most direct explanation is depth at a position where Miami’s new regime spent very little this offseason. With Ferrell active, the Dolphins carry five edge defenders into Las Vegas, joining Chop Robinson, Josh Uche, Robert Beal Jr. and Herring, and the expectation is that Ferrell supplements that group rather than displacing anyone in it.
Miami can also kick defensive tackle Zeek Biggers outside in certain looks, but the interior is thinner than it was supposed to be with Kenneth Grant opening the year on injured reserve.
Ferrell also brings a different body type. The team lists him at 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, and his career has been built more on setting an edge than on bending around one, which matters against an opponent whose offense is likely to run first and ask questions later.
The Raiders side of it
That is where the Raiders’ week comes in. Ashton Jeanty is officially off the injury report and cleared to play after an ankle injury clouded his August, while tight end Brock Bowers has been ruled out.
Take away Kirk Cousins’ best receiving option and the natural adjustment for a Klint Kubiak offense is to lean harder on the second-year back.
The numbers say Las Vegas has nowhere to go but up on the ground. The Raiders averaged 77.5 rushing yards per game last season, worst in the league, and scored 14.2 points per game, also last.
Miami, for its part, allowed 132.4 rushing yards per game in 2025, 26th in the NFL. A defense that struggled to stop the run and just lost its starting nose tackle to IR has every reason to want one more veteran who can hold up on early downs.
The first four years in silver and black
The revenge-game storyline writes itself, though the details are less dramatic than the framing. Las Vegas took Ferrell fourth overall in 2019 and started him 15 times as a rookie, when he posted 4.5 sacks, according to Pro Football Reference.
Across four seasons with the Raiders he appeared in 58 games with 30 starts and totaled 10.0 sacks, and the team did not bring him back on a second contract when his rookie deal expired.
What followed was a tour of the league: San Francisco in 2023, Washington in 2024, a brief stop with the Chargers in 2025 and then a return to the 49ers, where he produced 4.0 sacks in eight games.
In all, Ferrell has appeared in 98 regular-season games with 57 starts and 21.0 sacks, plus six postseason games. He is not the player the Raiders thought they were drafting, but he has been a functional rotational edge for three different playoff-caliber rosters since leaving.
What to expect Sunday
Kickoff at Allegiant Stadium is set for 1:25 p.m. PT, which is 4:25 p.m. ET, on FOX. Ferrell should expect a rotational role behind Robinson and Uche, with his snaps tied to how often Las Vegas stays in heavier personnel and hands the ball to Jeanty.
The bigger stories of the day will belong to other people. Malik Willis makes his first start as a Dolphins quarterback in a game one former Miami passer has already framed as season-defining, and Patrick Paul will spend the afternoon across from Maxx Crosby after saying his piece about it earlier in the week.
But the Ferrell decision tells you something about how the new regime is thinking. A healthy roster does not have to make this move, and the fact that Miami made it anyway suggests the coaching staff looked at the Raiders without Bowers and decided the game would be decided in the run fits.
If Ferrell earns a second elevation, that read was probably right. If he goes back to the practice squad quietly, it cost the Dolphins one of three chips on a player they already own.
