Jordan Poyer will have a safety partner this fall for the first time in eight years, so there will be an adjustment period to be sure for the Miami Dolphins offseason acquisition.
But there are several reasons Poyer is looking forward to his new partnership with Jevon Holland, including the location of his new team, the opportunity to show he's still got some good football left in him, and last but most definitely not least the potential of his new teammate.
Oh, and Poyer and Holland both are former Pac-12 (or Pac-10) standouts.
"I mean, he's just an extremely athletic player, extremely gifted player that I've been following and watched kind of grow over the last few years," Poyer said. "You know, that's an Oregon Duck and you've an Oregon State guy here, so that'll be pretty cool to just connect with him and learn about him."
Poyer's signing with the Dolphins became official Monday and he then conducted a Zoom media session where he talked about his background as a baseball player good enough to have been drafted by the Miami Marlins (then the Florida Marlins), his golf game and the chance to play for a team whose stadium is only 30 minutes away from his home.
POYER HAS SOMETHING TO PROVE
In terms of football, Poyer touched on his experience and what that could mean for a Dolphins secondary that will have two new starters in 2024 after Xavien Howard was released and DeShon Elliott left as a free agent.
"I want to help as much as I can," Poyer said. "I'm 32, I guess you can call me old or whatever, but at the same time, I have a lot of knowledge about this game. And I feel like I can help players see the game maybe in a different light, a different perspective and help them essentially just get one step closer to the ball, one step closer to making that play."
Poyer joined the Dolphins after being part of a mass cap purge by the Buffalo Bills after he spent the past seven seasons there, all of them with Micah Hyde as his safety partner.
Hyde is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, so his time in Buffalo might be done as well.
For Poyer, the Dolphins will represent his fourth NFL team after the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns and the Bills.
He had some great years with the Bills, earning All-Pro honors in 2021 and Pro Bowl honors in 2022, but his advanced stats weren't particularly impressive last season.
Given the fact he'll turn 33 in July, Poyer no doubt has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, something he says has been a constant in his career from the time he ended up as a seventh-round pick in the 2013 NFL draft despite being a consensus All-American in his final year at Oregon State.
"This is just another one of those opportunities, another one of those great opportunities for me to go out there and prove to myself really that and everybody else around me I can still play and still play at a high level," Poyer said. "I still help win games. I have a lot of experience in this game. A lot of experience within this division and a lot of people that I've seen over the years and I want to bring all that knowledge here to help ultimately help the Dolphins win football games.
"I'm here with open mind, open heart, with open arms to learn, to grow, to evolve as a person, as a player, and just bring the best version of myself that I can again to help this team win football games."
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