The Miami Dolphins continued to shape their roster in advance of free agency on Friday, this time moving on from a player who played significant snaps in 2024.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Dolphins have announced that they will not be tendering OLB Quinton Bell, meaning he will become a free agent.

Bell has been with the Dolphins since the October 2023, when he signed onto the team’s practice squad.  He didn’t appear in a game in 2023 and signed a reserve/futures contract in January 2024. Bell made the final cut when the Dolphins trimmed their roster down to 53 last August.

He appeared in all 17 games in 2024 with 3 starts, in part due to necessity with Bradley Chubb missing the entire season and Jaelan Phillips suffering another season-ending injury with a torn ACL on September 30 in a 31-12 loss to Tennessee.

However, Bell was a substantial contributor last year for Miami’s defense.  He totaled 27 combined tackles with 3 tackles for losses and a sack.  He earned 64.8 Pro Football Focus grade in 258 total snaps, although his 5 pressures in 83 pass rushing snaps wasn’t anything to write home about.

Because Bell doesn’t have four accrued years, he was a restricted free agent rather than unrestricted. An accrued year is where a player plays or was on the active roster, injured reserve list, or physically unable to perform list for at least 6 games in a season. Despite being drafted in 2019, Bell hadn’t accrued those four seasons. Now, with the Dolphins refusing to tender Bell, he’s free to sign with any team.

We’ll see if a reunion down the road happens with the Dolphins and Bell, but for now, it appears as though the team is looking elsewhere for depth off the edge this offseason.