Mike McDaniel Speaks on Cedrick Wilson Jr. Addition

Mike McDaniel Speaks on Cedrick Wilson Jr. Addition

A familiar face from earlier in the Mike McDaniel era is back with the Miami Dolphins.

Miami signed wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. off the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad after he last played for the Dolphins in the 2023 season. The signing comes in the wake of the Dolphins’ preeminent player at the position for the last few years, Tyreek Hill, tearing his ACL against the New York Jets on Monday.

McDaniel coached Wilson in the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, and he commented on the Dolphins’ decision to add the 29-year-old. He explained why the team brought him on to fill Hill’s roster spot.

“His consistency and play-making ability and ability to play with or without the ball,” McDaniel said. “He played to a high standard here, and as we looked at all of his tape since, he hasn’t lost a step, in our opinion.”

However, any Dolphins fans hoping to see Wilson on the field against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday should temper their expectations. According to Miami’s longtime head coach, he won’t be practicing with the squad this week, though it’s likely he will the following week. Wilson is not long removed from a minor procedure.

Wilson, a sixth-round pick back in the 2018 NFL Draft, returns to the Dolphins without having suited up in a contest yet this season. Still, he brings plenty of experience to the table, as across 83 career regular-season games played, he’s racked up 1,480 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns.

Given the familiarity Wilson has with the Dolphins’ modus operandi under McDaniel, the rationale for Miami signing him over other wide receivers on the market is evident. With how thin the team’s receiver corps is looking, Wilson should have plenty of opportunities over the course of the long season to prove McDaniel right in his assertion that he hasn’t lost a step.