Cowboys TRADE Kelvin Joseph to Dolphins for 1st-Round Cornerback
FRISCO - In what will surely be billed as a classic "change of scenery'' trade, the Dallas Cowboys have moved away from former second-round pick Kelvin Joseph, shipping the cornerback on Tuesday's NFL Cutdown Day to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for former first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene (ig-bin-ah-GAH-nee), who also plays cornerback.
Joseph recently defiantly spoke out against critics who believe he might've been cut by the team as the Tuesday 53-man roster deadline approaches.
"Nice articles,'' Joseph wrote on Twitter this weekend. "I ain't giving up!''
But indeed, he was on the Cowboys bubbler ... just as Igbinoghene was in Miami.
Had Joseph given the Cowboys enough to retain him? Has he done enough to quell the questions about whether he should make the team in 2023? Obviously not.
Like every NFL team, the Cowboys are having to cut their current roster of roughly 90 players down to 53 before the regular season begins - August 29 is D-day there. Dallas has plenty of talent on the roster, and roster cuts inevitably mean parting ways with some quality players.
We suggested going into the preseason games that Joseph is having a difficult time finding his place on the Dallas depth chart ... that he's "not showing enough'' as a corner ... and that as much as the Cowboys would hate to admit a mistake, or give up on, a third-year player who was a second-round pick, "BossMan Fat'' may find himself on the roster bubble if he doesn't start excelling in opportunities.
Did he excel? Not to the naked eye, no. ... though maybe the viewpoint is warped because the trio ahead of him - Stephon Gilmore, Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland - set the bar so high.
Can he succeed in Miami? Maybe a "change of scenery'' helps. Joseph in a sense switched positions, moving away from boundary corner during some practice sessions ... while also trying to continue to pick up on how to play on special teams.
Meanwhile, the 5-10 Igbinoghene, 23, never got going in Miami, in part due to injuries. He was a track guy at Auburn - the son of a pair of track Olympians for Nigeria and a surprise first-round pick ... and the Dolphins declined his fifth-year option.
Joseph, a 2021 second-round pick, has never been much of a special-teams player before late last year, when he impressed coaches with his development there. But at corner? Last year was a struggle. He got a shot when Anthony Brown was lost for the season but allowed 12 completions for 219 yards and four touchdowns on 18 targets ... while allowing a passer rating of 147.9.
And that sent the organization in a mad scramble for help from on-the-couch free agent corners.
The 5-11 Joseph, 23, has started just three games in two seasons, and was even benched last year during a Week 15 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. This came shortly after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called out Joseph specifically in December, saying it's time for him to step up.
"It's time for him to become a man," Jones told 105.3 The Fan. "Accept a higher level of responsibility. He’s got more people depending on him. It’s time for some of the side stuff to ease its way out of his life."
Jones' comments were about Joseph's off-field behavior. Those sad issues haven't surfaced again. Now it's about football ... and football in Miami for Joseph. ... and football in Dallas for Igbinoghene.
