The Dolphins keep circling the same kind of player this summer: former first-round picks trying to restart their careers. Miami has already taken swings on a couple of them, and now Kenneth Murray is next in line.
According to a report Monday morning, the Dolphins are set to work out Murray, the former 2020 first-round pick of the Los Angeles Chargers. He spent last season with the Dallas Cowboys after one year with the Tennessee Titans and his first four NFL seasons in Los Angeles, and he went unsigned this year as an unrestricted free agent.
Murray’s NFL résumé is long on experience and short on consistency. The former Oklahoma standout has 83 starts on his ledger, including five seasons with at least 14 starts, but his play has never really settled into anything dependable. Pro Football Focus has ranked him 73rd or worse among qualifying linebackers in five of his six seasons, and Pro Football Reference lists him with a career 109.0 opponent passer rating when targeted.
There’s also the financial angle. Murray made $7.5 million with the Cowboys in 2025, but he’s currently staring at a season without a paycheck, which could make a one-year prove-it deal more appealing. That’s the kind of contract Miami has been handing out to newcomers this year, with one exception: Malik Willis.
The Dolphins have already added two other former first-rounders in Jalen Reagor and Clelin Ferrell. Reagor, once a first-round receiver for the Eagles, and Ferrell, a former Raiders edge rusher, both look like backup options if they make the 53-man roster at all. Miami also brought in Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a workout earlier this summer, though it never led to a signing.
Murray’s look comes at a useful time for the Dolphins, too. Jordyn Brooks, Tyrel Dodson, Trey Moore and Ronnie Harrison Jr. all missed practice Monday, leaving Miami with some immediate linebacker concerns.
At 27, Murray still fits the age range where a team can dream on a rebound. If the price is right, he’s the sort of gamble Miami could take and hope it turns into something bigger than a stopgap.
And Murray isn’t the only name in that lane. By one count, there are 21 other former first-round picks still active and currently without a team, though former Dolphins backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is no longer part of that group after announcing his retirement.
If Miami is going to keep shopping in that market, the younger names make the most sense. That would rule out a good chunk of the list, including former Dolphins first-round pick Christian Wilkins, who turns 31 in December and is a special case anyway since he isn’t unemployed because of performance.
Among the free agents still under 30, there are four former first-round picks, though former Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold has already agreed to terms with the Seattle Seahawks and still has legal issues to navigate.
That leaves Jonah Williams, Mekhi Becton and Jeff Okudah.
Okudah and Becton are especially notable because both came off the board in the 2020 first round, the same draft in which Miami had three picks. Okudah went third overall, two spots ahead of Tua Tagovailoa, while Becton went 10th, eight spots before the Dolphins took Austin Jackson.
Becton is the more intriguing of the two. He has started 59 of his 61 NFL games, but his 2025 season with the Chargers was rough.
His 37.1 PFF grade ranked 77th out of 79 qualifying NFL guards, ahead only of Cincinnati’s Jalen Rivers and the Dolphins’ Jonah Savaiinaea. The Chargers had signed him to a two-year deal worth up to $20 million last offseason after his breakout 2024 season with the Eagles, but they cut him loose after one year.
Okudah has bounced around even more, playing for a different team in each of the last four seasons. He didn’t start a game for Houston in 2024 or Minnesota last year.
Williams brings the cleanest starting résumé of the three, with 74 starts in 74 career games, but injuries limited him to just 15 combined starts over his two seasons with the Cardinals.
Miami could use help on the offensive line and at cornerback, and really, depth anywhere on the roster. That’s why it wouldn’t hurt for the Dolphins to at least bring in one or all three of those former first-rounders for a visit or a workout.
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