If you haven't noticed, things are very different with our beloved Miami Dolphins. From general manager to head coach to quarterback, it's been a full housecleaning. Those were just some headline grabbers, though. There are only five players left on the roster who've been in Miami for more than three years: defensive tackle Zach Sieler, offensive tackle Austin Jackson, running back De'Von Achane, EDGE defender Cameron Goode, and cornerback Ethan Bonner.
Miami's new brain trust in Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley is taking a sensible approach to their first season. Mired in the carnage of Chris Grier's salary cap mismanagement, Sullivan opted to roll the dice on players with high draft pedigrees who are willing to play for a league-minimum salary. The Dolphins can't offer much more than an opportunity at this juncture, and it takes a truly hungry player to embrace that situation.
Such is the case with former Philadelphia Eagle and Miami native Josh Uche. The 27-year-old joins a barren EDGE rusher room without a single established player. Despite a career that includes an 11.5-sack season in 2023, Uche was available to the Dolphins after a few down years. In this piece, however, we're going to poke some holes in that very 'down-year' narrative with some recently unearthed statistics.
Advanced stats show the Miami Dolphins may be getting a $30 million value for less than $2 million with free agent addition Josh Uche
Among the 2025 Miami Dolphins EDGE rushers were some accomplished and eventually highly compensated contributors. Bradley Chubb went up north to Buffalo (we'll claim him again when he's done in that frozen wasteland). Then there's Jaelan Phillips. Phillips was sent off to Philadelphia at the trade deadline for a third-round draft pick that became Ohio State tight end Will Kacmarek. Phillips' stay in Philly was brief, however.
He was quickly identified as the crown jewel of the free agent class as a just-turned-27-year-old EDGE rusher with considerable production. He was paid commensurately when the Carolina Panthers handed him a whopping four-year, $120 million contract. Among pass rushers with at least 40 rushes in 2025, as tallied by Sports Info Solutions, Phillips' 16.8% pressure rate ranked 26th in the league. There's no doubt he's impressive.
Right behind him at 27th in the league with a 16.3% pressure rate was Uche. At a nearly $28.6 million difference in yearly compensation, some might say the Dolphins got an absolute steal in the latter. Consider me among them. Yes, Phillips nearly tripled Uche's 130 rushes with his 388. It doesn't change the fact that Uche was disruptive when he got chances on the field.
What's interesting, as it relates to Phillips specifically, his pressure rate ballooned from 15.4% in Miami to 19.7% in Philadelphia. It's questionable whether the Panthers have the arsenal of rushers that the Eagles did (including Uche), but none of that is the Dolphins' problem. If Uche can keep his production going with a much larger workload, fans can expect his stay to last a lot more than just this season.
It'll be a sweet added bonus if Uche doesn't slip off of Justin Herbert with the game on the line when the Dolphins meet the Chargers in Week 16. No, we're still not over that, Jaelan.
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