The Miami Dolphins woke up Monday morning with an available spot on their 53-man roster, and it seems safe to assume it will go to wide receiver River Cracraft.

But with other players recovering and ready to return soon, roster management decisions will become more complicated because, frankly, every player returning to the 53-man roster needs an opening.

Although there will be some decisions to make on behalf of the Dolphins due to subsequent injuries, it still looks like the team will have some tough decisions to make sooner or later.

Five positions come to mind.

The Dolphins currently have two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, Tua Tagovailoa and Skylar Thompson, and no one on the practice squad, but Tyler “Snoop” Huntley is two weeks away from returning from injured reserve (IR).

Based on comments made last week by both head coach Mike McDaniel and quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell, carrying three quarterbacks at 53 is a definite possibility when Huntley returns.

And that doesn’t even get into the question of who will be No. 2 after Huntley starts the last three games Tagovailoa missed due to time on IR.

“That would be something we let these guys come in and compete for,” Bevell said. “That’s not it right now. I mean, Skylar is number two right now. But when Snoop comes back, that’s a decision we’ll make then.”

Let’s say the Dolphins decide to play with two quarterbacks. In this case, once the player clears waivers, it’s likely that the cut-taker will be re-signed to the practice squad – we don’t anticipate either Thompson or Huntley claiming waivers, especially at this stage of the season.

The (expected) addition of Cracraft would give the Dolphins six wide receivers at 53, which is two more than they carried when they took someone off the practice squad for each game at the start of the season. Also Odell Beckham, Jr. He recovered from his knee problem and was on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

Do the Dolphins really need six wide receivers at 53?

The last addition to the group before Cracraft was Dee Eskridge, who missed Friday and Saturday practices due to a personal issue. He didn’t travel to Los Angeles with his teammates, but he will be there. Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.

However, Eskridge now serves as the starter and Braxton Berrios is missing for the season due to a knee injury.

If the Dolphins decide gold is too much, Eskridge or even Beckham would be the two logical options to announce right now. While he may suggest this because of his experience, keep in mind that he had 11 offensive touches in three of four games and 12 in the other.

The Dolphins clearly like rookie sixth-round pick Patrick McMorris, so they kept him in the original 53 before placing him on IR at the start of the season.

And now his training window opened last week.

“There are very few rookies who can pass with super speed,” McDaniel said. “We thought he did a really good job of learning the responsibilities and really got better throughout training camp. So he stood out that way, and I think it’s because of his talent and his professionalism. I think it might be a hair’s breadth.” “It’s coming up this week, but I can’t wait for him to step up and be a part of what we’re doing because he’s interested in the right things and has the ability to contribute.”

The Dolphins currently have four guards on the 53-man roster, including Jevon Holland, Jordan Poyer, Marcus Maye, Elijah Campbell and 11 defensive backs.

Making those numbers five and 12 would mean sacrificing at another point, and logic would dictate removing another DB to make room for McMorris, who should be ready for the next game against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11.

The Dolphins value Blake Ferguson enough to give him a contract extension last year, and both McDaniel and special teams coordinator Danny Crossman spoke glowingly of him last week, making it almost certain he’ll return to ’53. He has one more game on the Reserve/Non-Football Illness list.

“Whether the details will be next week, the week after, or a week from now, we’ll leave that to time, but I love Blake,” McDaniel said Saturday. he said. “You will see him when he is ready because the team does its best when he converts.”

Crossman added last week that he didn’t want to get into a situation where the team was signing a long snapper to the practice squad every three weeks while using the player’s maximum of three ups.

However, when the Dolphins activate Ferguson, they will have to take someone from another position off the 53-man roster because they do not currently have a long snapper on the roster.

This isn’t as clear-cut as the other four points we mentioned because Bradley Chubb’s status is still uncertain.

The two-time Pro Bowl selection is back on track from his ACL injury in Week 17, and McDaniel is regularly producing positive results. We don’t know when Chubb might return, though, or if he’ll return in 2024.

If he returns, he would be the Dolphins’ six forward linebacker, joining Chubb, Emmanuel Ogbah, Chop Robinson, Mohamed Kamara, Tyus Bowser and Quinton Bell. Six edge defenders is a pretty high number on a 53-man roster, but it would be a tricky decision, as with the others.