MIAMI -- Jerome Messam could be headed back to the CFL.
The Miami Dolphins cut the Canadian running back on Saturday as the NFL team trimmed its training camp roster by nine.
The six-foot-four, 248-pound Messam ran for 1,057 yards with the Edmonton Eskimos in 2011, was named the CFL's outstanding Canadian and was a league all-star before signing with the Dolphins in February.
The 27-year-old had one reception for 10 yards and one rush for minus-2 yards in two pre-season games with Miami.
A Toronto native, who grew up in Brampton, Ont., Messam will become the property of the Eskimos if he doesn't get picked up by another NFL team in the next 10 days.
"Jerome has options," Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed told reporters Saturday. "We have supported Jerome all along and we're going to continue to support Jerome.
"He's going to look at his options down there and if things don't work out then we know he'll probably be part of the plans here."
Messam, who became the first Canadian to crack the CFL's 1,000-yard rushing plateau since 2000, might have to fight for time in the Eskimos' backfield if he returns to Edmonton.
The club recently signed Cory Boyd after he was released by the Toronto Argonauts and already has incumbent Hugh Charles as well as versatile Canadian Calvin McCarty, who can play both fullback and tailback.
The Eskimos will have Charles, Boyd and McCarty in tow Monday night when they travel to Toronto to face the Argos. But Reed said adding Messam to the mix heading into the second half of the CFL regular season would present the Eskimos with a pleasant problem.
"It's a very good situation to have if it works that way," Reed said. "It's a situation where now we have quality depth, where two weeks ago we only had one running back (Charles) and Calvin, being a jack of all trades as fullback and part-time running back so it would be a very good situation for us if it works out."
Edmonton acquired Messam -- who was allowed to sign with the Dolphins because he was in the option year of his CFL contract -- from the B.C. Lions prior to the start of the 2011 season for a 2013 fifth-round selection.
Despite his immense talent, Messam wore out his welcome in Vancouver due to a series of transgressions that culminated in a suspension by the team prior to being dealt to Edmonton.
In 2010, he broke former Lions' teammate Paris Jackson's jaw in a dressing-room fight and received a suspended sentence and fine for an altercation in a London, Ont., nightclub.
