The Miami Dolphins began the process of re-signing some of their free agents Thursday, agreeing to terms with defensive back Elijah Campbell.
Campbell was one of two players scheduled to become a restricted free agent with the start of the new league year Wednesday, the other being offensive lineman Robert Jones.
Along with playing defensive back, Campbell has been a core special teams player for the Dolphins since being claimed off waivers from the New York Jets in 2021.
This marks the third consecutive year the Dolphins re-sign Campbell to a one-year contract after doing so as an exclusive-rights free agents in both 2022 and 2023.
Without this re-signing, the Dolphins would have had to decide whether to make a tender offer to retain any kind of rights on Campbell as an RFA, a decision they still have to make with Jones.
The tender numbers for 2024 are $6.8 million to get a first-round pick as compensation for not matching an offer sheet, $5 million to get a second-round pick as compensation, or $3 million for merely having the right to match the offer.
CAMPBELL'S CONTRIBUTIONS
Campbell has played 38 games in his three seasons with Miami, making one start on defense in each of the past two seasons.
He recorded his first career takeaway last season when he recovered a muffed punt inside the Tennessee Titans 5-yard line in the December Monday night game at Hard Rock Stadium.
Campbell was fourth on the Dolphins in special teams snaps in 2023 with 301, trailing only Justin Bethel, Duke Riley and Cameron Goode. He also was fourth in 2022 behind Bethel, Riley and Andrew Van Ginkel.
Campbell played 202 defensive snaps over the past two seasons combined.
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