Breaking Down the Dolphins Acquisition of RB Chase Edmonds

Running back Chase Edmonds gained more than 900 yards from scrimmage in 2021
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The Miami Dolphins landed their first free agent from another team Monday with reports they had agreed to terms with Arizona Cardinals running back Chase Edmonds.

The move came after the Dolphins signed defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah to a new four-year contract.

Edmonds will join the Dolphins on a two-year deal worth slightly more than $12 million, per multiple reports, and will become the team's highest-paid running back when the deal becomes official Wednesday — unless he's surpassed by another newcomer.

Edmonds' NFL resume

Edmonds joins the Dolphins after spending his first four NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals after being a fourth-round pick out of Fordham in the 2018 draft.

A dual-threat running back, Edmonds has been a backup most of his career, though he started 11 games for Arizona last year after James Conner was sidelined by an injury.

Edmonds ended up finishing the season with 903 yards from scrimmage while playing 12 games with 11 starts.

Both Edmonds and Conner were scheduled to become UFAs on Wednesday, though Arizona signed Conner to a new three-year deal.

Where the Dolphins stand at running back

Edmonds joins a Dolphins running back group that includes Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed and Gerrid Doaks, along with pending UFAs Duke Johnson, Malcolm Brown and Phillip Lindsay, plus pending RFA Patrick Laird, who has yet to be tendered and could thus also become a UFA in two days.

The addition of Edmonds certainly makes it more likely the Dolphins will let their pending free agent running backs walk via free agency, though it doesn't preclude the possibility of one or maybe two of them coming back.

Given the running back structure employed by the Dolphins in recent years and by the 49ers during new head coach Mike McDaniel's time there, the outlook still remains that Miami will use multiple backs, but Edmonds' deal certainly suggests he'll be a big part of the equation regardless.

Perhaps the most impressive stat on Edmonds' resume is his career average of 4.7 yards per carry. He also caught 96 passes the past two seasons, an indication of his ability as a pass catcher.

This was Cardinals QB Kyler Murray's Twitter reaction to the news.


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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.