What to Know About the New Dolphins Edge Defender

The Miami Dolphins filled the open roster spot created by the trade of Jaelan Phillips, and they went outside the organization to do it.

The team announced Wednesday it had poached edge defender Andre Carter II from the Detroit Lions practice squad.

In making this move, the Dolphins bypassed the two edge defenders on their own practice squad, Quinton Bell and Derrick McLendon.

Carter becomes the fifth edge defender on the 53-man roster along with Bradley Chubb, Chop Robinson, Matthew Judon and Cameron Goode.

Carter is not related to former NFL defensive lineman Andre Carter, who later became an NFL coach and spent the 2017 and 2018 as an assistant defensive line coach for the Dolphins.

Carter was signed to the Lions practice squad this year after being waived by the Las Vegas Raiders after a strong preseason showing that included two sacks.

After going undrafted out of Army, Carter played 12 games with the Minnesota Vikings in 2023 and three more with the Raiders in 2024. He didn't start any of those 15 games and played 149 of his 233 career snaps on special teams.

He did have half a sack for the Raiders in their Week 17 victory against the New Orleans Saints last season.

Carter earned third-team All-American honors during his junior season at Army when he finished with 16.5 sacks, the second-highest total in the FBS ranks behind that of Will Anderson, who became the third overall pick for the Houston Texans in the 2023 draft. Carter's production dropped to 3.5 sacks in 2022 when he battled injuries.

Carter attended the 2024 scouting combine and this was his NFL.com draft profile overview: "Long and rangy, Carter is currently best suited as a 3-4 rush linebacker on passing downs, but is likely to develop into an every-down player with additional growth both physically and technically. Carter needs to play with more skilled hands and inject a little more glass into his on-field diet in order to meet force with force when the run game comes downhill at him. His explosive get-off and natural bend/agility at the top of the rush are enough to create early opportunities for himself as a quarterback hunter. Carter might need a longer runway to meet his potential, but if does his pass-rush homework, he could take a substantial leap forward as an odd or even front edge rusher by Year 3."

PRACTICE SQUAD ADDITION

The Dolphins also filled out their practice squad this week when they signed cornerback Clarence Lewis.

Lewis entered the NFL as an undrafted college free agent with the Tennessee Titans in 2025.

He played the final year of his collegiate career at Syracuse (2024), where he started all 13 games and recorded 41 tackles (27 solo), one tackle for loss, 12 pass breakups and an interception. Prior to Syracuse, he spent four seasons at Norte Dame (2020-23), appearing in 51 games with 23 starts and recording 124 tackles (104 solo), 1.0 sack, four tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 18 pass breakup and three interceptions with one returned for a touchdown.

Lewis was one of four cornerbacks who tried out for the Dolphins on Tuesday.

The others were B.J. Adams, who was with the team in training camp, M.J. Devonshire and D.J. James.