The Miami Dolphins are staring at a very different roster than the one they had just a year earlier, and the churn is especially obvious up front on defense. Of the 90 players on the team’s June 1, 2025 roster, only 36 were still around by June 1, 2026, and that number figures to drop again once cutdown day arrives.
Nowhere is the damage more obvious than at EDGE. Miami is down to just two holdovers there in Chop Robinson and Cameron Goode, with Robinson described as being on thin ice and Goode carrying more of a special teams profile than anything else. The Dolphins did work to patch the group in free agency and the draft, including at least one player with super steal potential, but the position still looks like a spot that will need more help soon.
That’s where the 2027 free agent market could come into play. A look ahead suggests Miami may have a real chance to shop for a replacement if it wants to keep adding pass-rush talent around the edges.
Byron Young, 28, of the Los Angeles Rams, is one of the most intriguing names. His path to the NFL is unusual enough to stand out on its own: after high school, he worked at Dollar General and walked away from football, then returned to the game in 2020 at Georgia Military College. Since then, he’s turned himself into a legitimate producer, posting 12.0 sacks last season and 27.5 across three years.
The Rams, meanwhile, are pushing hard for a Super Bowl run and have doubled down by trading for Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns. That move upgrades the defense, but it also raises the bill.
With so much money tied up in young talent, Young could end up being the odd man out. If that happens, Miami would have a chance to make a serious play.
Tuli Tuipulotu, 23, of the Los Angeles Chargers, is another name that jumps off the page. A second-round pick in 2023, he has outperformed expectations and then some, piling up 13.0 sacks in 2025 and 26.0 in his career. At 23, he’s still climbing.
The Chargers already made one notable decision this offseason by passing on an extension for Odafe Oweh, who had been acquired midseason and then left for a $100 million deal with the Washington Commanders. That might sound like a one-off, but it fits a bigger pattern: the Chargers are spending the 30th most cash on their roster this year.
If they keep cutting corners, Tuipulotu could be available for a team willing to pay. Miami would fit that description.
Kayvon Thibodeaux, 25, of the New York Giants, is a different kind of swing. He flashed with 11.5 sacks in 2023, then followed with seasons of 5.5 and 2.5 sacks. He has 23.5 sacks overall, but his role in New York has never seemed fully settled.
The Giants also keep loading up on EDGE talent, which makes Thibodeaux’s future even murkier. They drafted him, paired him with Brian Burns, added Abdul Carter in 2025, and then Arvell Reese in 2026.
On top of that, Thibodeaux is already showing up in trade rumors. If he actually reaches free agency, he would be a worthwhile gamble for Miami.
YaYa Diaby, 27, of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, brings a steadier profile. He began his college career at Georgia Military, just like Byron Young, then arrived in Tampa as a third-round pick in 2023. After spending his first two seasons behind Shaquil Barrett and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, he finally got rolling, finishing 2025 with 7.0 sacks and 19.0 for his career.
His future may hinge on what the Buccaneers do in 2026. If the season goes sideways, a teardown could follow, with Todd Bowles and Baker Mayfield both potentially out.
If Tampa instead gives Mayfield the big-money extension he wants, Diaby could be squeezed out by the cap. Either way, Miami would be smart to keep tabs on him.
Myles Murphy, 24, of the Cincinnati Bengals, rounds out the list. A late first-round pick in 2023, he struggled early with just 3.0 sacks over his first two seasons, but he took a step in 2025 with 5.5 sacks and now has 8.5 in his career. He’s still young enough to keep trending upward.
Cincinnati already passed on Murphy’s fifth-year option, which opens the door to free agency after the season. And with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins taking up so much of the financial oxygen on offense, keeping defensive pieces together gets tougher. If Murphy keeps improving in 2026, Miami could absolutely be part of the conversation.
In Other News...
Dolphins Suddenly Face A Serious Trade Question On Defense
The Cowboys linebacker situation has become one of the more interesting defensive questions in the league, with Dee Winters and DeMarvion Overshown projected as starters and younger players battling for the third spot. That uncertainty has already pushed Dallas into the rumor mill, and Sports Illustrateds Mike Moraitis pointed to a familiar name in Miami as a logical way to stabilize the middle of the defense.
From the Dolphins side, the conversation is more about whether theyd even entertain moving a proven veteran than it is about any actual deal taking shape. Miami has not indicated that Jordyn Brooks is available, and no trade has been confirmed, but the fact that his name is surfacing at all says plenty about how teams around the league view the Dolphins defensive pieces and how quickly a need elsewhere can turn into a call worth making. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Just Got Dragged Into A Wild NFL Scenario Again
CBS Sports Carter Bahns took the NFLs usual 17-game grind and turned it into something far more familiar to soccer fans, laying out a World Cup-style bracket with eight groups, round-robin play and a knockout round. It is the kind of speculative exercise that invites every fan base to start gaming out paths, and for Miami it created an especially strange backdrop because the Dolphins were part of the mix in a format built to test how the league might look under a completely different set of rules.
The Broncos wound up in Group D in Bahns setup and made it all the way through the group stage and the Round of 16 before their run ended in the quarterfinals against Cincinnati. For the Dolphins, the more immediate takeaway is less about Denvers eventual exit and more about how quickly these alternate-universe formats can put Miami in the middle of a storyline that feels both ridiculous and oddly plausible, which is exactly why these exercises keep pulling readers back in. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Roster Trend Is Challenging Everything Fans Assume About This Team
The Dolphins roster construction has turned into an odd little geographic story, and it starts with where the players came from before they ever reached the NFL. Texas stands out as the clear pipeline, with a large share of Miamis roster having played college football there, while Florida schools barely register by comparison. For a team that lives and works in one of the countrys biggest football states, that imbalance is enough to make you look twice.
Even more striking is how many Dolphins were actually born in Texas, a number that pushes the team well above the usual local-birth profile you might expect from a South Florida roster. The reasons are not spelled out as official policy, but the pattern has prompted some curiosity about whether the front office values players who have spent their careers outside the familiar pull of home-state ties. For now, it is just one of those roster quirks that says as much about Miamis approach as any depth chart ever could. [Read more 🡒]