The Miami Dolphins made their secondary a focus of the 2020 off-season.
Tae Hayes
Bio
Hayes was very productive during his college career. In four years at Appalachian State, Hayes had 138 tackles, 24 passes defended and 9 interceptions.
He went undrafted in 2019 but was signed by Jacksonville as a free agent. Hayes was part of the Jaguars final cuts but was signed to their practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster for one game before being waived again on December 12th.
This time Hayes didn’t make it through waivers and the Dolphins signed him the next day. With the Dolphins secondary depleted, Hayes saw action in two games and logged 7 tackles and recovered one fumble.
Expectations for 2020
The Dolphins added Byron Jones in free agency and drafted Noah Igbinoghene in the first round. Add to that returning players like Xavien Howard and Nik Needham and Hayes will find it difficult to make the final roster. His best chance is to make a big impression on special teams.
Even if Hayes is cut, there is a very good chance that he could be signed to the practice squad and would be among the first players called up if/when injuries strike the secondary.