What to Know About the Latest Roster Addition

The Miami Dolphins added another young player to their roster Wednesday, one whose team was in the Super Bowl just three days ago.

The team announced it had signed cornerback Miles Battle, who ended last season on the New England Patriots practice squad.

Battle joins the Dolphins after playing six games over the past two seasons after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent.

While the sample size clearly is very small, if not microscopic, Battle has performed very well in coverage as an NFL player. In his six games, his opponent passer rating when targeted is a very impressive 39.6, per Pro Football Reference, which has him allowing two completions in nine attempts in coverage for only 19 yards.

Battle played at Mississippi and Utah in college after first committing to the University of Oregon, and entered the draft as a raw but athletic prospect. Battle was not invited to the 2024 scouting combine, but reportedly ran a 4.37 40-yard dash at his Pro Day at Utah, an eye-opening number given his 6-3, 197-pound stature.

This was the draft scouting report from NFL.com's Lance Zierlein, who had projected Battle as a priority free agent.

"While Battle has posted electric athletic-testing numbers, the game tape shows he’s a much better athlete than cornerback right now," Zierlein wrote. "He lacks coverage instincts in man and has busts from deep zone coverage from time to time. He’s not a physical hitter or tackler, so a move to safety seems unlikely."

Battle will be put into the mix at cornerback and try to earn a roster spot at a position with a lot of question marks heading into the offseason.

Battle becomes the fifth player signed to a future contract for 2026, joining tight end Zack Kuntz, safety Omar Brown, edge defender Seth Coleman and former Carolina Panthers second-round pick wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. as 2026 Dolphins newcomers.

Kuntz was out of the NFL in 2025 after being waived by the Jets in training camp.

The Jets also waived Kuntz out of camp in both 2023 and 2024 but brought him back on the practice squad each time. He appeared in one game in each season, though he didn't catch a pass and his NFL regular season resume consists of 13 total snaps.

Kuntz joins a tight end group that features Julian Hill, Darren Waller, Greg Dulcich, Jalin Conyers and Cole Turner, who also got a future contract for 2026 but that one when Champ Kelly was interim GM.

It's also worth noting that Waller and Dulcich both are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in the mark.

So the opportunity could be there for a young unproven player at the position, particularly with a new regime on hand that's likely to be making a lot of change.