The Miami Dolphins claimed running back Kaytron Allen off waivers from the Washington Commanders on Friday, adding a recent draft pick who never settled into a role in the nation’s capital.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the transaction, which ends a brief and quiet start to Allen’s professional career and gives Miami a low-cost option at a position that has thinned quickly.
Allen, 23, arrived in the league as a sixth-round selection, taken 187th overall in the 2026 draft out of Penn State. Washington signed him to a four-year rookie contract worth $4,683,952, including a $303,952 signing bonus, with a base salary of $885,000 scheduled for this season.
The deal was standard for a late-round pick. What followed was not.
After appearing in each of the Commanders’ first four games, Allen was waived this week, a move that caught observers off guard given how recently he had been drafted.
His NFL production was modest. In those four appearances he carried the ball 12 times for 41 yards and did not score.
Washington’s backfield grew crowded enough that a former sixth-rounder with little regular-season volume became expendable, and the Commanders’ hope of sliding him through waivers onto the practice squad did not last.
Miami, holding early waiver priority, stepped in before that could happen.
The college résumé that got Allen drafted is considerably thicker. Across four seasons with the Nittany Lions, he rushed for 4,180 yards, a Penn State career record, on 769 attempts, and finished as one of the program’s most productive backs.
His final season was the strongest of the four: 1,303 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, the kind of senior production that usually earns a prospect a longer look than Allen received in Washington.
He also caught 70 passes for 490 yards and four scores in college and earned All-America recognition in 2025.
For the Dolphins, the claim is less about immediate starring duty than about depth. De’Von Achane is out for the season after tearing an ACL, and Miami has been sorting through the remaining options behind him, including Ollie Gordon II and Jaylen Wright.
Allen arrives on the remainder of his through-2029 rookie contract, so the financial commitment is already set and the risk is limited to a roster spot.
Whether he earns meaningful carries will depend on how the backfield shakes out over the next several weeks, but Friday’s waiver claim at least gives a productive college runner another chance to show he belongs.
