The Miami Dolphins are planning on releasing starting left tackle Branden Albert, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Adam Caplan.

The Dolphins also plan to release defensive tackle Earl Mitchell, a source confirmed to Caplan.

NFL Network first reported the news of the Dolphins’ plans.

Albert wasn’t offered a pay cut or restructured contract before his release, a source told ESPN’s James Walker.

Albert had two years left on his contract, but neither season carried any guaranteed money. He was scheduled to be paid $8.9 million and would have counted $10.6 million against the cap in 2017. By releasing him, the Dolphins save $7.2 million on their cap. The release of Albert leaves $3.4 million in dead money on their cap.

Mitchell was to make $3.975 million in 2017 (not guaranteed). Scheduled to count $4.5 million against the Dolphins’ salary cap, his release saves the Dolphins $4 million on their cap, with $500,000 in dead money left over.

The Dolphins might move 2016 first-round pick Laremy Tunsil to left tackle to replace Albert if the veteran doesn’t re-sign with Miami on a more team-friendly contract. Tunsil, a left tackle in college at Ole Miss, played left guard in his rookie season.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Sean McVay’s message to Kyle Shanahan when he accepted his first head-coaching job: “I can’t tell you how happy I am for you, but I can’t believe I’ve got to see you twice a year now.”

The long-standing rivalry between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, often-times intense during the Rams’ original stint in Southern California, now has a compelling new twist: McVay, whose grandfather was part of five Super Bowl titles as a 49ers executive, is the Rams’ new head coach. Shanahan, initially deemed a favorite for the Rams’ vacant post, is the 49ers’ new head coach.

And, of course, they have history.

Shanahan was the Redskins’ offensive coordinator from 2010-13, while his father, Mike Shanahan, served as head coach. McVay coached tight ends during that four-year stretch, then replaced Shanahan as offensive coordinator after he departed for the Browns.

“Kyle is a guy who’s had a tremendous influence on some of the things I believe in offensively,” McVay said. “He’s a great coach, and I wish him nothing but the best for 14 games — except for those two next year.”

The 49ers won only two games under Chip Kelly in 2016, but both of those wins came against the 4-12 Rams that were led by Jeff Fisher. They embarrassed the Rams, 28-0, during the Monday Night Football opener from Levi’s Stadium, then came from behind to hand them a 22-21 loss at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the second-to-last game of the regular season.

By that point, McVay was calling plays for the Redskins and Shanahan was offensive coordinator for the Falcons, who had an MVP quarterback in Matt Ryan and put together one of the most impressive offensive seasons in NFL history. The Rams were scheduled to meet with Shanahan during the weekend of the Falcons’ playoff bye week, but inclement weather derailed their plans. They rescheduled for the following weekend, but ultimately hired McVay days earlier, making one of the biggest decisions in franchise history without even sitting down with Shanahan.

The Philadelphia Eagles have two things Kenny Britt values: a potential franchise quarterback and receivers coach Mike Groh. That should make Philly a desirable landing spot should the stars align come March.

Every receiver wants a quality quarterback for obvious reasons, but that desire can be heightened when stability at QB has proved elusive. Since being drafted in the first round by the Tennessee Titans back in 2009, Britt has been teamed with Vince Young, Kerry Collins (in his late 30s), Rusty Smith, Matt Hasselbeck, Jake Locker, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Austin Davis, Shaun Hill, Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Jared Goff.

Safe to say, the idea of locking in with a long-term (and perhaps top-end) signal-caller would be appealing to the eight-year veteran.

The shaky quarterback scene continued for Britt last season, as the Los Angeles Rams split duties between Keenum and Goff, who went 0-7 as the starter in his rookie season while completing 55 percent of his throws. Britt saw a big spike in production, however, eclipsing the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the first time while shattering his previous high in catches (68) and scoring five touchdowns. Some of that can be attributed to the high number of targets (111), but much of the credit has been given to Groh, who worked as the receivers coach in L.A. last season before taking the same position with the Eagles last month. (Groh also worked with pending free agent Alshon Jeffery in Chicago.) Given the success he had under Groh, Britt would no doubt welcome a reunion.

“There’s a lot of great receivers and everyone has a different style, whether it’s a guy with all the tools like a Julio Jones and Calvin Johnson to a rough and rugged guy that’s just going to impose his will on guys like Hines Ward and Anquan Boldin. There’s a lot of different ways to skin a cat in regards to that position,” Douglas said when asked what type of receiver he prefers. “Honestly, I’m just looking for the guy that’s going to come in here and compete and be productive and be the best player he can for the Eagles.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Watch the Tennessee Titans offense during a TV timeout and you’ll find 11 guys on the field close together, ready to huddle.

Eleven without a quarterback.

While Marcus Mariota visits with coaches on the sideline to sort out whatever needs sorting out, the Titans put the people on the field intending to complicate things for a defense.

“We have a mode during TV timeouts, we put 11 players in the huddle without Marcus,” coach Mike Mularkey said in a long chat with The Midday 180. “When you do that, you put 11 guys in the huddle, you’ve got three different personnel groupings. If you’re on defense and you know what the personnel is on the field and the down and distance, you could be at the coffee shop and call a game.

“That’s what the two key ingredients are for a defensive call, personnel and down and distance. So when you put all these guys in the huddle and they are asking, ‘What is the personnel?’, well, the personnel guy is saying, ‘We’ve got 21 [two running backs, a tight end and two receivers] in there, 12 [one back, two tight ends and two receivers], 11 [one back, one tight end, three receivers] are all in there.”

With the five linemen on the field, the Titans couldn’t have all those potential combinations ready to huddle. But they jump in and out to keep multiple options.

“We do some things, even while the TV timeout is going on, you’ll see players coming in and out, so we constantly keep changing the personnel groupings to where they don’t have a bead on us, which one is going in. It’s all legal. It’s just another way for us to keep them working even when there is a TV timeout and there is nothing going on.”

This is not a giant advantage, but it’s an advantage. A defense doesn’t get an early read on the personnel it needs to match on the play coming out of a timeout. It’s also an illustration of the type of small things Mularkey and his staff concern themselves with that can go unseen and might gain them an advantage at some point.

The Titans can also be clever out of it.

Coming out of a stoppage after a change of possession in Week 8 against Jacksonville, the Titans had DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry in the backfield. They quickly snapped it directly to Murray, who faked a handoff to Henry moving right, then ran to the left side and gained 11 yards before Mariota came back on the field.