Miami Dolphins adding a true Florida Man to their roster to replace Igbinoghene

Tuesday afternoon was cutdown day in the NFL. By 4 o’clock eastern, teams were required to shave their 90-man roster down to 53 players. 

Some teams engaged in trades prior to the cutoff. The Dolphins were one of those teams. Right before the deadline, they shipped former first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene to the Cowboys in exchange for corner Kelvin Joseph. According to head coach Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins had no intentions of trading Igbinoghene and it was the Dallas Cowboys who initially proposed the idea.  

Dallas drafted Kelvin Joseph back in 2021 out of the University of Kentucky. Despite contributing heavily on special teams, the former second round pick never secured a starting role for the Cowboys. 

From an outsider’s perspective, a corner for corner swap seems a little redundant. Both are essentially the same type of player - a fringe contributor with unrealized potential. Although the Dolphins do benefit marginally on this transaction as they save about 800k in cap space.

What’s more interesting about this acquisition is that the Dolphins are picking up a player with some baggage. 

Back in March of 2022, Joseph was connected to a drive-by shooting which killed an individual. It was determined that the cornerback was a passenger in the vehicle but was not involved in the shooting. The perpetrators have since been arrested and no charges have been laid on Joseph. 

In his spare time Joseph is a rapper who releases music under the moniker ‘YKDV (you know da vibe) Bossman Fat’. On Spotify, he has 328 monthly listeners and his biggest track ‘Pain’ has almost 24,000 streams. Safe to say it’s more of a hobby and not a second career. 

The Dolphins are essentially adding a part-time rapper with ties to violent crime to their special teams unit. 

In essence it reads like a true ‘Florida Man’ headline: 

Rapper with Ties to Murder Will Play Special Teams on Florida Football Team

In fairness to it all, front offices construct their roster based on their surrounding environment. If you are in the Northeast, you want players who are physically tough and can handle the cold. If you play in a dome, you opt for quicker players who can cut on a dime. But if you play in the sweaty, muggy, craziness that is South Florida. Perhaps you sign the type of players that will make headlines for all the wrong reasons.