Stephone Anthony traded to the Miami Dolphins for draft pick
Stephone Anthony fills a major hole in the Dolphins defense with Lawrence Timmons going AWOL
Stephone Anthony has been traded by the New Orleans Saints to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for an undisclosed 2018 draft pick. ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report the trade, which was later confirmed by both clubs.
New Orleans drafted Anthony in the first round if the 2015 NFL Draft out of Clemson to be their starting weakside linebacker on day one. New Orleans’ defense has ranked either last or second to last in yards allowed per play since 2014 and Anthony has done little to help.
Anthony missed time in 2017 with a high ankle sprain and started only three games in 2016 following a knee injury.
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Miami brings in the 25-year-old linebacker after suspending veteran Lawrence Timmons indefinitely for failing to report. The former Steeler did not report to the Dolphins week two game against the Los Angeles Chargers, prompting a missing person report being filed. Miami was forced to start undrafted free agent Mike Hull in week two after the Dolphins were forced to sit out week one following Hurricane Irma.
The Penn State product Hull recorded seven tackles against the Chargers in a 19-17 win on the road.
Veteran Rey Malaga was also brought in to provide depth at middle linebacker for the Dolphins.
Timmons did report to the team facility on Monday, but will not participate in team activities.
Miami would take a $11.025M dead cap hit if they were to release the 31-year-old linebacker. According to Spotrac, that dead cap would split as $8.275M in 2017 & $2.75M in 2018 if Timmons would be released.
Per the NFL CBA, a team can not suspend a player for more than four weeks.
Timmons left the Steelers, who drafted him in the first-round out of Florida State, after 10 seasons via free agency. He left Pittsburgh ranked second in career tackles behind only James Farrior with 680, just 51 short of the record.
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Anthony will likely sit behind Hull for the Dolphins’ week three matchup against the Jets as he learns the playbook.