What Makes the Latest Roster Addition Intriguing

The Miami Dolphins signed a recent draft pick to a 2026 contract

New York Jets tight end Zack Kuntz (88) runs the ball after catching a pass during the second half against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field during the 2025 preseason. | Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images

New Miami Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan made his fourth player acquisition since taking over in his new role, this time signing a former New York Jets draft pick.

Tight end Zack Kuntz, a seventh-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft, officially was signed to a future contract Friday morning, joining safety Omar Brown, edge defender Seth Coleman and wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. as 2026 Dolphins newcomers.

Kunt 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.

WHAT TO LIKE ABOUT KUNTZ

Kuntz came out of Old Dominion in 2023 after starting his collegiate career at Penn State and transferring following his sophomore season.

Things obviously didn't work out for him with the Jets, but it doesn't change the fact he came into the league as an intriguing prospect.

And the reason for that is simple: He was a 6-foot-7 prospect for unusual athletic ability for a tight end.

His performance at the annual scouting combine in Indianapolis was off the charts, landing him a perfect score of 10 out of 10 on the Relative Athletic Score (RAS), which measures a prospect's raw athletic ability compared to others at his position.

Before Kuntz did it in 2023, not one of the 1,104 tight ends measured had achieved a perfect RAS score.

In that 2023 scouting combine, Kuntz was among 20 tight ends who tested and he ranked first or second in all six categories (40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 3-cone drill, shuttle).

It obviously takes more than raw athletic ability to succeed in the NFL, which is why Kuntz ended up being the 14th of 15 tight ends taken in the 2023 draft

This was his NFL.com draft profile, written by analyst Lance Zierlein before the 2023 combine: "Kuntz is expected to light up the NFL Scouting Combine with his speed and athleticism, but he’s not as fluid on tape as you might expect. He needs to keep filling out his extremely long frame, as he plays more like a big receiver than a tight end. His hands are subpar and he’s not strong enough to outwork grabby coverage or win contested catches right now. A team could view him as a Day 3 pick and stash him on the practice squad while he continues to develop."

It may be that Kuntz never emerges as an NFL contributor, but there's enough there clearly for the Dolphins to have taken this shot.