Dolphins signing DL Da’Shawn Hand, cut Anthony Montalvo
The Miami Dolphins added one defensive lineman and cut another Sunday.
Da’Shawn Hand, an Alabama alum with 31 games of NFL experience since 2018, is signing with the Dolphins, according to a league source.
Meanwhile, Miami released defensive tackle Anthony Montalvo, an undrafted free agent out of UCF, per league source.
Hand was one of three defensive linemen that worked out for the Dolphins on Saturday, along with former FSU defensive tackle Marvin Wilson and Illinois alum Roderick Perry. He has mostly played defensive end since he was a fourth-round selection of the Detroit Lions in 2018, but his 6-foot-3, 297-pound frame could potentially give defensive coordinator Vic Fangio options on where to align him up front.
Twenty-nine of Hand’s NFL appearances and his 11 starts have come with the Lions, while he appeared in a game apiece for the Tennessee Titans between the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Hand has 54 career tackles, six for loss, three sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Playing for Alabama from 2014 to 2017, the final year of his college career matched up with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s freshman season with the Crimson Tide. His last two college seasons coincided with Dolphins nose tackle Raekwon Davis in Tuscaloosa, but he just missed wide receiver Jaylen Waddle by a year.
Hand provides an immediate boost to competition for a reserve defensive lineman spot on the Dolphins roster this training camp. Fangio has said he’s looking for depth to surface behind defensive tackles Christian Wilkins, Zach Sieler and Davis. Miami also has defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who can play the edge with his hand in the ground or standing up.
In the team’s Saturday scrimmage, Dolphins defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman, a practice squad player in 2022, made his presence felt with at least two sacks and constant pressure on quarterbacks. Josiah Bronson and Brandon Pili were also seen around the ball multiple times up front.
Montalvo was, too, on at least one occasion, but it wasn’t enough to save his spot on Miami’s 90-man roster in camp.