The Miami Dolphins could only spend so much on the free-agent market with all their self-inflicted salary cap woes, but new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan is counting on some diamonds in the rough to emerge.
One of them happens to be a Miami native. Once upon a time, Josh Uche was a second-round pick out of Michigan. Jim Harbaugh's program prepared him for what lay ahead in New England under Bill Belichick, and in his third NFL season, Uche broke out with 11.5 sacks.
It's been something of a rocky road since then. The Pats ultimately traded Uche to Kansas City in 2024, and he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles last offseason.
With that type of pro pedigree in such strong organizations, Uche seems primed to make the most of his best shot at significant playing time for his hometown team. Turns out, the 27-year-old's success to date is a big credit to watching a certain Dolphins superstar growing up.
Josh Uche embraces starting chance in Miami & strives to emulate Cameron Wake
In a joint interview session along with multiple other Dolphins free-agent acquisitions, Uche explained how he drew inspiration from five-time Pro Bowler Cameron Wake from a very early age.
"I started off watching Cam Wake get after the quarterback, and so like every Sunday after church, me and my dad would watch the Dolphins. I would see what he would do, and I’d try to go to practice and do the same exact thing. Whenever I talk to kids at my football camps or whatever, I tell them find a player you like go to practice, and try to do what you just saw him do. And for me, it was Cam Wake…that crazy 4-point stance."
Wake had to grind his way from an undrafted free agent practice squadder to the CFL, and finally to the Dolphins, where he had five double-digit sack seasons in his first seven full years with the team.
Whether Uche ever hits that 11.5-sack ceiling he flashed in 2022 remains to be seen. However, he could look to Wake's general career arc as further motivational fuel. He was 28 when he came into his own and piled up 14 sacks for the 2010 Dolphins.
More than the homecoming lure of Miami, Uche was also keen to land with a team where he'd have a real crack at significant snaps.
With 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson as a presumptive starter on one edge, it'll likely be a camp battle between Uche and fellow free agent David Ojabo — another second-round pick from Michigan.
All that added up to make the Dolphins Uche's no-brainer destination for the 2026 season, as he revealed in Monday's meeting with the media:
"I want to play football, bottom line, and the opportunity’s here. […] This is where I wanted to be all along. It's just divine timing, and I'm just so excited to be home…The best of both worlds. […] The chance to play in front of my family, [for] my hometown team, and to also be able to help this team get back to where I know it's supposed to be."
It's hard not to root for Uche. He was teammates for a brief time in 2025 with ex-Dolphin Jaelan Phillips, who logged 871 snaps across the regular season and playoffs. Uche has only 1,617 career snaps. Plenty of tread on the tires.
Fresh legs, a change of scenery on home turf, and the chance to show out for his home community make Josh Uche a strong breakout candidate in 2026. Miami sure would take anything close to resembling Wake's production in the trenches.