For a long while, the 2020 Miami Dolphins served as the NFL’s gold standard as it pertained to signing rookies from this past April’s 2020 NFL Draft. The Dolphins came out hot despite the significant number of rookies that the team was going to have to secure and get under contract — but they’ve been stuck in neutral with two rookies left to sign. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns have progressed to sign all of their rookie players to deals; leaving the Dolphins just short of being able to claim getting their full class under contract first.
But the Dolphins are one step closer this morning than they were 24 hours ago. The team’s third pick of their class, former Auburn CB Noah Igbinoghene, has agreed to terms with the Dolphins on his rookie contract according to several reports.
Dolphins rookie Noah Igbinoghene agrees to terms, leaving only Robert Hunt unsigned.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) July 20, 2020
The No. 30 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Igbinoghene is expected to compete for the starting nickel role for the Dolphins and is a possible candidate to play on special teams as a return player as well. Perhaps the best aspect of Igbinoghene’s profile as a player is his raw potential. As recently as 2018, Igbinoghene was not only playing football but participating in the team’s indoor track events. As recently as 2017, Igbinoghene was a wide receiver for the Tigers.
With two years of experience on defense at the college level, there’s plenty of untapped potential to go with what is already a pretty effective coverage player — and the Dolphins chose to buy into that ceiling with their decision to forego other options in the 1st-round and draft Igbinoghene. The move surprised fans, but considering that the Dolphins’ last two seasons have yielded the worst and fourth-worst points allowed totals in franchise history, getting as much defensive talent as possible under Brian Flores’ watch is well justified.
And now, with the Dolphins’ rookies set to report in two days for their first round of COVID-19 testing, Igbinoghene is locked and loaded. His contract is expected to be worth $11.3M over his first four seasons and comes with a $5.7M signing bonus. Once he puts the pen to paper, he’ll leave just No. 39 overall pick Robert Hunt unsigned. Expect the Dolphins to make a late push to get that deal done in the coming days as well.