Why Tart Should Become Sweetest DT Pick-Up

The defensive tackle brings a lot of upside to the Miami Dolphins defense

Teair Tart / Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY

The defensive tackle brings a lot of upside to the Miami Dolphins defense

Saving the best for last?

The latest in the long line of defensive tackle additions for the Miami Dolphins this offseason very well could turn out to be the most impactful.

That’s how we’re viewing the weekend acquisition of Teair Tart.

He became the sixth veteran defensive tackle the Dolphins have acquired this offseason, following Benito Jones, Neville Gallimore, Jonathan Harris, Davyion Nixon and Isaiah Mack.

He’s got the most upside, and that’s probably not even up for debate.

TART’S POTENTIAL

If there’s one area where Tart really stands out, it’s as a run defender.

The stat that jumps off the page when looking at his resume is the eight tackles for loss, per Pro Football Reference, he accumulated in 2023, most impressive because he did it in limited work.

Tart got those eight TFLs in 379 total snaps with the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans, an average of one TFL per every 47.4 snap.

By comparison, Christian Wilkins record 10 tackles for loss in 2023 in 894 defensive snaps, or once per every 89.4 snaps. Zach Sieler was the Dolphins leader in that category last season with 11 and he did it in 856 snaps, or one every 77.8 snaps.

Take it further and look at the NFL leader among interior defensive linemen, which was (no great surprise) Aaron Donald. He produced 16 tackles for loss in 2023 and did in 867 snaps, an average of one TFL per every 54.2 snaps.

Tart beat them all.

THE RISK WITH TART

Now comes the downside.

It starts with remembering that Tart, for all his great TFL work, did get released by the Tennessee Titans in December, and that happened because the team wasn’t happy with his effort and attitude, according to a story written by ESPN Titans reporter Turron Davenport.

The story further indicated that Tart himself was unhappy with his lack of playing time during a contract year and things came to a head ironically enough during the Monday night game against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.

While financial terms of Tart’s deal with the Dolphins haven’t been released, we probably can assume the defensive tackle didn’t get the kind of contract he had in mind when the 2023 season started.

His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, did say on his weekly appearance on South Florida TV station WSVN that Tart took less money to sign with the Dolphins, but it should be pointed out that the lack of state income tax in Florida can sometimes make up the difference from a competing offer and Tart also is returning to where he play his college football, FIU.

The bottom line is that the signing of Tart does come with a degree of risk because of what happened leading to his departure from Tennessee, but it also offers a potential reward.

Tart agreed to terms on a one-year deal, according to reports, so he'll again be playing for a new contract and the hope is that he learned from what happened in Tennessee.

In the end, it very well could be that this signing becomes clearly the best among those given to defensive tackles and becomes the one that most helps the Dolphins make up for the departure of Wilkins.

Because of that, this was a low-key great move by the Dolphins.