Dolphins Keep Collecting Cornerbacks

When Brian Flores helped the New England Patriots defense suffocate the high-powered Los Angeles Rams offense in Super Bowl LIII, the cornerstone of his unit – no pun intended — was the secondary.

It should be obvious by now that vision is coming into play in Miami, particularly when it comes to the cornerback position.

The Dolphins are going to be using a lot of resources at that spot in 2020 after making Byron Jones the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, allowing him to supplant new teammate Xavien Howard for that honor.

When Byron Jones broke the broad jump world record at the combine 👀😳 pic.twitter.com/WjNmhTSDa8
— Footballism (@FootbaIIism) February 27, 2020

To supplement to signing of Jones, the Dolphins used their third of three first-round picks on Auburn corner Noah Igbinoghene, who has a chance to make an immediate impact as the nickel corner.

And based on the reports of their interest in veteran free agent Logan Ryan, it appears they might not be done yet.

Even if they don't get Ryan, the Dolphins should have one of the top cornerback groups in the NFL, assuming Howard can make a full recovery after having another knee operation last December and playing only five games in 2019.

In terms of talent alone, the Jones-Howard tandem has the potential to be the Dolphins' best since the glory days of Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

It clearly should be among the elite duos in the NFL, and NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks had them at number 3 behind only New England corners Stephon Gilmore and Jason McCourty (number 2) and Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey of the Baltimore Ravens.

.@BuckyBrooks breaks down his Top 5 CB tandems in the NFL 👇 pic.twitter.com/BEp5QNf1qk
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) May 15, 2020

“Brian Flores wants to play man-to-man, and he has two man-to-man specialists," Brooks said. "Byron Jones does a great job of getting tight with wide receivers, shadowing them down the field. And then Xavien Howard, a couple of years ago he was a guy who had tremendous ball skills, he got hands on everything. Terrific players.”

Brooks' NFL Network colleague Daniel Jeremiah then said there was not a more talented tandem than Howard and Jones.

"You talk about big, long, athletic guys that can play the ball ...," Jeremiah said.

The Dolphins currently are scheduled to use $36.7 million in cap space on their cornerbacks, and that's the highest figure in the league, according to overthecap.com.

The Dolphins ranked 17th in cornerback cap spending in 2019 and hadn't been in the top 10 in that department since 2013 when they were eighth.

The 2018 Patriots secondary featured two former first-round picks in Gilmore and safety Devin McCourty, a second-round pick in Patrick Chung and a third-round pick in safety Duron Harmon.

The additions of Jones and Igbinoghene have given the Dolphins two former No. 1s to join two former second-round picks (Howard and cornerback-turned-safety Eric Rowe) and rookie third-round selection Brandon Jones.

Last night's 96-yard kickoff return by Noah Igbinoghene was Auburn's first KO return for a touchdown since Corey Grant went 90 yards for a score in 2013 against Tennessee. #TailLights pic.twitter.com/nbtMRbQpRz
— The Auburn Vault (@AuburnVault) September 23, 2018

“The most important part is just really having no weak links, and that’s what we’re trying to create in our defensive secondary and really the entire team, is to build a team where there are no weaknesses, where we can just guard up," Byron Jones said after signing with the Dolphins. "We can create matchups that are difficult for receivers and quarterbacks. We’ve seen throughout the league, receivers are getting better and better. Quarterbacks are getting better and better. Teams don’t have just one good receiver. They have multiple. They have good tight ends, good running backs, so we just want to be able to match up to some of the best assets and just disrupt that as much as we can.”

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