Chris Bell's rookie year almost stalled before it started. The Louisville product tore his ACL in November 2025, and the injury reportedly cost him real draft stock — instead of hearing his name called in the first couple rounds, he slid to Miami in round 3, picked after fellow rookie receiver Caleb Douglas and Ohio State tight end Will Kacmarek. Bell opened training camp on the active/non-football injury list while he finished rehabbing the knee.
Dolphins activated wide receiver Chris Bell off the non-football injury list.
Adam Schefter broke the news Monday: Bell is off the NFI list. It's a one-line transaction, but it matters — the move erases any concern he'd have to start the regular season stuck on Reserve/NFI, missing the first 4 games before he could even suit up. Miami's opener against Las Vegas is still roughly 4 weeks out, which gives Bell a real runway to get up to speed with the offense.
SleeperNFL's post confirmed the same activation with a photo attached, and the timing lines up with what head coach Jeff Hafley had been saying throughout camp — that Bell was progressing without ever committing to a hard date.
The hype around Bell isn't just about clearing a medical hurdle, though. Analysts have pointed to his size and physical style as a big reason he was viewed as a first-round talent before the ACL tear scared teams off. Hayden Winks went further, calling the early NFI activation a surprise and pegging Bell as a candidate to be starting for Miami by season's end, if not sooner.
Chris Bell of NFI list this early is a surprise. He's on pace to being a Dolphins starter by the end of the season, if not way sooner. 1st-round talent imo.
That's a big swing for a guy who was on the practice field on a strict rehab plan a few weeks ago. Miami's receiver room already has Douglas and the rest of a retooled corps, but a healthy Bell adds a size element the Dolphins haven't had. The next checkpoint is whether he starts logging real reps in camp practices and preseason snaps — that'll tell the story of whether Winks' timeline is realistic or just outside noise.