The Dolphins’ defensive back room became a lot more crowded last week when two safeties and four cornerbacks signed modest contracts. So there’s now quantity. The question is whether there’s quality.
Those six -- 11 others under contract, and players added in the draft process -- will compete on cornerback/safety units that have been badly depleted by lack of cap space and poor decisions by the previous regime, none worse than the selection of Cam Smith in the second round in 2023.
What’s unknown is whether there’s a single one worthy of becoming a multi-year starter, a single one who would carry a heavy-snap workload when the Dolphins are ready to contend.
Miami’s cornerback room now has eight returnees (Ethan Bonner, Jason Marshall Jr., Juju Brents, Storm Duck, Jason Maitre, Isaiah Johnson, AJ Green and Ethan Robinson) and four newcomers (former Titans starter Darrell Baker; ex-Arizona starter Marco Wilson and ex-Patriots backups Miles Battle and Alex Austin).
The safety room now features Lonnie Johnson (who’s on his sixth team in five years), former Packers backup Zayne Anderson, Dante Trader Jr. (the 2025 fifth-round pick) and developmental players Omar Brown (three NFL appearances, for Green Bay) and Jordan Colbert (all 62 career snaps have been on special teams).
There are only three veteran full-time multi-year starters from that group: Baker, Wilson and Lonnie Johnson.
But Baker struggled in coverage for the Titans; Johnson has become something of a journeyman (Miami is his seventh team in five years); and Wilson - a former starter in Arizona - hasn’t started a game the past two seasons and played only 22 defensive snaps last season (for the Bengals).
What’s more, Brents (foot), Colbert (stinger) and Johnson (knee) all finished last season on injured reserve, and it’s unclear if Brents and Johnson will be ready for the offseason program. Maitre spent all of last season on injured reserve.
At safety and corner, there’s seemingly a better chance that an opening day starter or two emerges from April’s draft (Miami has five of the top 90 picks) than a longterm starter emerges from this group of 17. But there are intriguing possibilities.
At cornerback, Baker has appealing traits, including size (6-1), length and explosiveness (he was Georgia’s state log-jump championship as a senior). But the production hasn’t been nearly consistent enough.
He permitted nine touchdowns and had no interceptions in 34 games and 19 starts for the Titans the past two seasons, allowing passer ratings of 117.9 and 135.4 after spending his first two seasons as a backup with the Colts.
He has been targeted 160 times in four seasons and has no picks but 10 TDs relinquished, per Pro Football Reference. But Miami guaranteed $1.1 million of Baker’s $1.2 million salary, suggesting he’s likely to make the team.
Whether the Dolphins can extract more from Baker - and get Wilson back to his second-year success in Arizona - are the big questions.
Drafted in the fifth round out of UF, Wilson played 83, 85 and 69 percent of Arizona’s snaps in his first three seasons, starting 37 games. He allowed six TDs as a rookie but improved dramatically in year two; he had three interceptions and permitted a 77.1 passer rating in his coverage area, per Pro Football Reference.
But he gave up six touchdowns and 136.7 passer rating in his coverage area in his third season, and the Cardinals released him late in the year. He has played just 228 defensive snaps since (for the Patriots and Bengals).
Wilson was seldom used on defense last season in Cincinnati – he permitted two catches and a touchdown on three targets, per PFR - and missed the final six games with a hamstring injury that landed him on IR.
The Dolphins announced his signing by posting a photo of Wilson as a child wearing a Zach Thomas jersey. The Fort Lauderdale native and Plantation American Heritage alum said he’s “excited to be a Dolphin, something I’ve always wanted to do since I was a little baby kid.”
There’s upside with both Marshall - who improved late in his rookie season - and Austin, who has started six games for the Patriots over the past 2 ½ seasons, including two last year.
After the Bills drafted Austin in the seventh round in 2023, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein said the 6-1 Austin has “good instincts, good football IQ” and said he thought he might go in the fourth or fifth rounds. He had an interception and eight passes defended in 589 defensive snaps during his Patriots tenure.
Marshall, a fifth-round pick last season, allowed a 109.5 passer rating in his coverage area (20 for 28 for 262, two touchdowns and a pick) but played well late in the season and intercepted Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield in Week 17.
Duck was targeted repeatedly in the opener before sustaining an injury and ended up playing only 44 defensive snaps in two games. Bonner, who was re-signed by the new regime, logged 90 defensive snaps last season, permitting a TD reception but also picking off a pass.
Brents, the former Colts second-rounder, had one very good game for Miami but struggled against Washington in Madrid before sustaining the season ending foot injury.
Green played only eight defensive snaps in three games last season after the Dolphins poached him from the Rams practice squad.
Battle played only 47 defensive snaps in two years for the Patriots, but his metrics are impressive: just two receptions (for 19 yards) and three passes defended in nine targets.
Sullivan has signed six cornerbacks since joining the Dolphins, and it’s not a coincidence that all are at least six feet.
More clearly is needed at safety beyond Trader, who impressed against the run last season but allowed 16 of 18 passes to be caught for 197 yards, and veterans Anderson (an ace special teams player who has two starts in five seasons for Green Bay) and Johnson, who has changed teams each of the past five offseasons.
Johnson – who had three interceptions for Houston in 2021 – logged 321 defensive snaps for Las Vegas last season, allowing 11 completions in 17 attempts for 147 yards and a TD.
Per PFR, his career passer rating against is 104.2, with 11 touchdowns allowed and four interceptions on 159 targets. He could potentially start by default, but he also could be cut in August; it’s telling that Miami guaranteed just $187,500 of his $1.3 million salary.
Sullivan also brought in Brown, was on the Packers practice squad in 2024 and was elevated for the final three games last season but spent last year on injured reserve.