"For a couple of hours Friday afternoon, it looked as though Joey Porter had received an early Valentine: his football freedom.

However, after first announcing they had released the disgruntled linebacker, ending his tenure in South Florida after three up-and-down seasons, the Miami Dolphins were forced to restore him to their roster. A league source said this was due to NFL salary cap rules.

"The release of Joey Porter was determined to be an invalid termination," the team said in a statement. "Therefore, at this time, Porter reverts back to the Miami Dolphins roster."

The Dolphins apparently will have to wait three more weeks before officially cutting ties with Porter. He is due a $1 million roster bonus shortly after the new league year opens on March 5 but he will almost certainly be gone by then.

Once they do cut Porter, the Dolphins will save $9.9 million in salary and bonuses that were due the next two seasons.

Trading Porter won't be easy for the Dolphins once the trading period re-opens on March 5, not with the rest of the league watching on national television as he waged open war on his employer during recent appearances on ESPN and the NFL Network.

Once they do cut Porter, the Dolphins should save $4 million in 2010 salary and bonuses.

Reserve linebackers Charlie Anderson and Cameron Wake are in line to assume starting roles with Porter going and fellow veteran Jason Taylor, an unrestricted free agent, uncertain whether he'll return."