News Dolphins Team Notes

[Miami Dolphins]

Dolphins bring back veteran CB Cornell Armstrong after Artie Burns’ season-ending injury is confirmed

Photo by Adam Hagy/Getty Images

The Miami Dolphins sign former 2018 6th-round draft pick Cornell Armstrong to a one-year deal after Artie Burns' season-ending injury.

The Miami Dolphins' cornerback room has remained one of the team's biggest question marks heading into the offseason, and that was before Jalen Ramsey revealed his desire to be traded.

Ramsey would eventually be shipped to the Pittsburgh Steelers, which landed Miami one of the top safeties in the NFL in Minkah Fitzpatrick. However, the need for a cornerback only grew stronger.

Then, during the first minicamp practice of the season, veteran cornerback Artie Burns got tangled up with UDFA B.J. Adams and suffered what appeared to be a season-ending injury. ( This was confirmed earlier today by ESPN's Adam Schefter. )

So, of course, with so many young players in the secondary and a need for someone on the perimeter not named "Kader Kohou", the Dolphins would turn their attention to one of the top free agents on the market, like Rasul Douglas or Asante Samuel Jr., right?

WRONG.​

Sure, Samuel or Douglass may still sign with the team in the coming weeks, but for now, the Dolphins have decided to go with a familiar face. According to his agent, Brett Tessler, Miami has agreed to a one-year deal with former Southern Mississippi cornerback Cornell Armstrong.

The Miami Dolphins are signing my client Cornell Armstrong (CB, Southern Miss) to a one year deal. 8-year vet is returning to the team that drafted him in 2018.

— Brett Tessler (@TesslerSports) July 24, 2025​

Armstrong, 29, was initially drafted by the Dolphins in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft (209th overall). He played primarily special teams for Miami as a rookie before bouncing around the league. During his six seasons in the NFL, Armstrong played for the Houston Texans (2019-2020), Atlanta Falcons (2021-2022), and the Las Vegas Raiders (2023).

Despite sitting out the 2024 season and only having a handful of starts under his belt, Miami felt it was best to bring in a 29-year-old veteran with special-teams experience over one of the aforementioned players, at least for now. Armstrong will fill the void left behind by Burns and compete for a roster spot, with the most likely scenario being a role on special teams.

As for Douglas and Samuel Jr., they might want to keep an eye on their phone in the coming days. Because if the Dolphins want to be competitive this season, they'll need to bring in a bit more than Cornell Armstrong, which was something the team realized, even before Ramsey was traded.

That is, unless younger guys like Cam Smith, Ethan Bonner, Storm Duck, Kendall Sheffield, and the rest of Miami’s unknowns are ready to step up. But that’s a question that will need to be answered another day.

What are your thoughts on the Miami Dolphins signing Cornell Armstrong to replace(?) Artie Burns after his season-ending injury? Do you believe the team will bring in Rasul Douglas or Asante Samuel Jr.? Or is it what you see is what you get with this unit? Let us know in the comments section below!

Source: https://www.thephinsider.com/2025/7...ong-artie-burns-season-ending-injury-2025-nfl

 

[Miami Dolphins]

Your Miami Dolphins Defensive MVP

Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

With camp starting this week, I asked the following question earlier in the week:

Who do you see as the Miami Dolphins’ most important player on the defense for this upcoming season, and why?

Below are some of your thoughts and answers-

JUK chose a player who returned to the team.

The leaders of each room are Sieler, Brooks and Minkah. You can make an argument for all 3 but I’ll go with Minkah, both for his play but also how he leads that incredibly raw secondary group

sdphinsfan believes that any good defense has a good anchor at linebacker.

Alot of good mentions in this thread. If this D is going to be good, it’s going to take some good years from more than a few guys. But I don’t ever recall seeing a really good Defense at any level of football that didn’t have really good LB play. So, to me, Brooks is the guy. If he has a great year, we’re gonna be pretty salty.

Alpha6 says ditto!

The new “heart of the defense” is MLBer Jordyn Brooks.

HE is the most important for me.

Leadership, tackling, run stopper, interceptions & gets to the QB.

JB had the highest tackles (143) since Zach Thomas (165) last season.

dedstrk316 believes it could be whoever we sign at CB or the two pass rushers returning from injury.

I think it’s whatever vet CB we sign and if we don’t sign one then it’ll be JP/Chubb coming back from injuries.

Miami7 believes it could be this year's first-round pick!

I’m gonna go a little off-norm & say Kenneth Grant.

We ‘KNOW’ what we’ve got in Sieler, the 3 DE’s, Brooks & the hope of Minkah returning to Pro-Bowl form....BUT ‘IF’ Grant can command significant attention it opens up everything for the front 6-7 to wreak havoc - which will be CRITICAL whilst housing one of the worst secondaries on public record.

glen55 says it's the new/old safety.

Has to be Fitzpatrick. Leadership responsibilities for an inexperienced DB room and much is expected of him on the field as well.

Dolphster is hoping Minkah steps up as a leader.

I’m going to say Minkah because that secondary is going to need someone to step up and lead them and hopefully mentor them into becoming a serviceable unit.

Dolfanjoe is another who went with the MLB.

Long long time since this team has had a middle LB like Brooks ! He became the defense until all the injuries around him derailed the team ! Toughness, change of attitude. This is what Brooks brought to this team. Seiler and him in the middle will make it so much tougher on teams to accomplish what they want to do to this team, and that is run it down our throats ! Eat the clock and keep our offense off the field. Things may look better from the start and even improve !

Well, that post was a bit slower than we prefer, but hopefully, with training camp now in full swing, things will pick up. It seems that there is a consensus that the two players the majority would choose from are LB Jordyn Brooks and S Minkah Fitzpatrick. Thank you to each of you who joins us each evening and participates in our PQOTD posts.

Source: https://www.thephinsider.com/2025/7/24/24473843/your-miami-dolphins-defensive-mvp