As it turns out, reports from Wednesday that the Dolphins have released receiver Tab Perry are wr-wr-wr-misinformed.

A league source tells us Perry hasn’t been released, and he didn’t receive an injury settlement.  Instead, he was “waived-injured,” a required step whenever any player with less than four accrued seasons suffers a serious offseason injury.

The goal is to prevent teams from stashing young players on IR by forcing the teams to expose them to the waiver system before the players land on the injured reserve list.

After a player is placed on IR, the player and the team can work out an injury settlement, which immediately makes the player a free agent.  

In Perry’s case, he has yet to receive an injury settlement.  And given the severity of the injury (torn Achilles’ tendon), an injury settlement is unlikely.  Instead, he’ll remain on IR for the entire 2008 season.