5 Veteran CB Options Following Dolphins' Latest Injury

The Miami Dolphins already have signed three veteran cornerbacks since training camp opened, and they may need to add a fourth following some news Wednesday. 

Starting cornerback Kader Kohou will miss the entire 2025 season with a knee injury after going down during practice last Saturday. Coming into camp, Kohou was the only cornerback on the team locked into a starting spot. 

The Dolphins also lost Artie Burns, who was competing for a starting spot, to a torn ACL. 

In response, the team has signed Cornell Armstrong, Mike Hilton and Jack Jones. Armstrong figures to play more on special teams given his pedigree, while Hilton should start in the slot. That’ll likely leave Jones as one of the team’s starting outside cornerbacks. 

We like Jones and Hilton for what they are — reasonable gambles with starting experience. However, it’s hard not to look at the Dolphins’ cornerback room as one of the worst in the NFL. 

The Dolphins have several young players competing for starting spots, including Storm Duck, Cam Smith, Kendall Sheffield (who did not practice on Wednesday), and Ethan Bonner. 

But the Dolphins aren’t afraid to add at this position, so let’s look at some options for the team to help replace Kohou. 

Veteran CB Options for Dolphins After Kohou Injury 

Rasul Douglas, Buffalo Bills 

Douglas has to be the first name that we mention because the Dolphins had a standing offer out to him before signing Hilton and Jones. 

Douglas made 15 starts for the Bills last season, recording 43 total tackles, five passes defended, and one forced fumble. He’s definitely one of the more experienced options available, and he won’t turn 30 until Aug. 29.

While Douglas’ pedigree would imply he’d be a major upgrade for the Dolphins, it’s hard to ignore what his tape looked like in 2024. 

He’s been known as a ball hawk throughout his career (19 career interceptions), but 2024 was the first time since 2020 that he had zero interceptions. He also gave up a career-high passer rating of 116.9 and committed a career-high 10 penalties.

Douglas was a liability for the Bills last season, so much so that they viewed cornerback as one of their biggest needs this offseason. This caused them to spend a first-round pick on Douglas’ replacement, Maxwell Hairston.

The Dolphins are clearly interested in Douglas, but he’d need to be much better in 2025 for the signing to be worth it. 

Asante Samuel Jr., Los Angeles Chargers 

This is a complicated one. 

From a purely football perspective, this appears to be a seamless fit. Samuel played under defensive coordinator Jesse Minter last season. Like Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, Minter is a member of the Mike Macdonald coaching tree.

Samuel has played pretty well when he’s been on the field, too. He played more than 1,000 snaps in 2023 and 2022, recording seven interceptions, 22 pass breakups, and an opposing passer rating of 81 (2022) and 98 (2023). 

If the Dolphins signed Samuel, he would immediately be the best cornerback on the team, while providing some upside to be a starter for multiple seasons. 

However, that “when he’s on the field” disclaimer complicates matters. He’s recovering from neck surgery this offseason, and he missed all but four games of the 2024 season with a shoulder injury. 

As we mentioned above, the Dolphins have already been burned by injuries at cornerback, so adding another player with high-injury risk isn’t ideal. 

Plus, Samuel’s father ripped the Dolphins’ front office and coaching staff to shreds on his podcast earlier this month. Asante Samuel Sr. did compliment Tua Tagovailoa in a more recent episode, so perhaps it could be water under the bridge. 

Still, Samuel’s injury risk might prevent a conversation from even starting. 

Stephon Gilmore, Minnesota Vikings 

There hasn’t been much noise around the Dolphins potentially adding Gilmore, but he does make a good bit of sense relative to the other options. 

Despite the fact that he’ll be 35 on Sept. 19, Gilmore has played in at least 15 games in each of the last three seasons. Last year with the Vikings, he had one interception, nine passes defended, and a passer rating allowed of 94.1. 

It’s clear Gilmore isn’t the same player who made four straight Pro Bowls from 2018 to 2021 and won the Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, but he’s a high-floor option. 

If the Dolphins want to lean even more on zone coverage this season (they probably should, given the cornerbacks they have), then Gilmore will fit in nicely. He still has good instincts and is competitive at the catch point. 

His tape from last year is better than Douglas’, and he’s far more durable than Samuel. 

Michael Davis, Washington Commanders 

Davis is another player with starting experience who is coming off a down season. He had just two starts for the Commanders last year despite appearing in 15 total games. 

He had zero interceptions, one pass breakup, and a passer rating allowed of 96.1. Those stats are obviously from a limited sample size, as Davis didn’t play much last season. That itself is a negative, though, because Washington’s cornerback group wasn’t exactly stellar. 

Davis strung together a couple of solid seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers from 2020 to 2022, but his play fell off a cliff in 2023. His passer rating allowed reached a career-high 119.2 that year. 

That said, Davis is a primary zone coverage cornerback who has played passable football before, so it stands to reason the Dolphins could consider him. 

C.J. Henderson, Pittsburgh Steelers

The only reason Henderson makes this list is because the team had him in for a tryout before choosing to sign Armstrong instead. 

It’s pretty telling that Henderson, a former first-round pick of the Jaguars, couldn’t beat out a player like Armstrong, who hadn’t played since 2022. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Henderson has made 27 career starts, 10 with Jacksonville and 17 with the Carolina Panthers after he came over in a trade. 

The Panthers declined to pick up his fifth-year option for 2024, and he failed to stick after signing with the Houston Texans. He wound up on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad instead, but didn't appear in a game in 2024.

The last time Henderson saw significant action was in 2019 with the Panthers. He played in 12 games (seven starts), recording zero interceptions, two pass breakups, and a passer rating allowed of 106.8. 

Henderson is by far our least favorite option on this list, but the Dolphins were at least considering bringing him in last week.