Friday Dolphins Notebook: Draft Picks, Needham, Williams Update, and More

As expected, the Miami Dolphins took advantage of cornerback Byron Jones' contract coming off the books to start dealing with the task of signing their 2023 draft picks.

So it was that three of the four members of that class were signed Friday, with running back De'Von Achane, tight end Elijah Higgins and offensive lineman Ryan Hayes all signed their rookie contract.

The only draft pick who didn't sign was second-round cornerback Cam Smith, though one would suspect that's going to be done sooner rather than later — because the CBA slots salaries based on draft position, so the negotiations have become limited to other aspects of the contract, such as offsets.

Bottom line: The days of draft picks signing after training camp has started are pretty much over.

NIK NEEDHAM PROGRESS REPORT

A trio of young Dolphins defensive backs have not been spotted by the media during offseason practices as they recovered from serious 2022 injuries, so it was really encouraging to see cornerback Nik Needham post a short video clip Friday of himself running.

Needham's 2022 season ended in the Week 6 game against the Minnesota Vikings when he tore an Achilles tendon and landed on injured reserve.

That he wouldn't practice this offseason obviously was to be expected, but the short clip would seem to suggest there's a good chance he'll be ready for the start of training camp in late July.

🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/BWPmuurFex
— Nik Needham (@FOETYY) June 2, 2023

The other two recovering Dolphins DBs are Brandon Jones and Trill Williams, who each sustained a torn ACL last season, Jones in the regular season and Williams in the preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

DOLPHINS PRACTICE NOTES

The OTA session Friday was the Dolphins' sixth and final one of the 2023 offseason, with the three minicamp practices next week being the last item on the agenda for veterans until training camp (rookies still will be doing rookie orientation for a couple more weeks).

As indicated earlier, the Dolphins are among a handful of teams not doing the maximum allowed 10 OTAs this spring, along with the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.

For the practice Friday, it was linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel who wore the orange jersey as the best performer of the previous session (though the criteria extends beyond simply on-field performance).

For those keeping score, other orange jersey recipients so far this offseason have been FB Alec Ingold, RB Salvon Ahmed, WR Jaylen Waddle, S Jevon Holland and LB Duke Riley.

PRESTON WILLIAMS UPDATE

Former Dolphins wide receiver Preston Williams worked out for the Buffalo Bills this week, but he won't be joining the AFC East rivals at this time.

The Bills instead signed the other tall wide receiver they worked out this week, former Raiders player Marcell Ateman.

Williams recently was released by the Carolina Panthers, suffering the same fate as another one-time promising young Dolphins player, Lynn Bowden Jr.