It shouldn't surprise anyone that the Miami Dolphins have made the most additions to their cornerback room through the first few days of free agency. A quick look at the cornerbacks on hand before free agency tells the whole story — in total, that group had accumulated just 18 starts combined. The Dolphins' latest signing, Marco Wilson, has played 64 career games with 37 starts in his five-year career.
Similar to other 2026 free agent additions, Tutu Atwell and Joshua Uche, Wilson is a hometown product. Originally from Fort Lauderdale, Wilson went on to follow in his older brother Quincy's footsteps and played his college ball at the University of Florida. Quincy Wilson was also a one-time Dolphin, although he was unable to make the team out of training camp in 2022.
Following an up-and-down career with the Gators — memorialized by an extremely unfortunate shoe-throwing incident — Marco Wilson was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. The 5'11", 191-pound Wilson saw his draft stock soar after an NFL Combine performance for the ages. He ran a blazing 4.35s 40-yard dash and jumped out of the gym to the tune of a 43.5" vertical. His Relative Athletic Score, which strictly accounts for athleticism, placed third out of 1,776 CBs from 1987–2021.
Marco Wilson will look to make the most of his athletic gifts with the Miami Dolphins
Despite all the athletic ability in the world, Wilson has struggled to put it all together at the NFL level. He spent his first two-and-a-half seasons with the Cardinals before being released and catching on with the New England Patriots. He stuck around in New England for the majority of the 2024 season before once again being released, this time landing with the Cincinnati Bengals.
He re-signed with the Bengals for the 2025 season but was relegated to a reserve role on one of the league's worst pass defenses before suffering a hamstring injury in November and winding up on injured reserve. For his career, Wilson has piled up 179 tackles, three tackles for loss, 20 passes defensed, three interceptions, and three forced fumbles.
There's a very real reason for optimism with this low-risk signing: Wilson's 2022 season. The advanced stats seem to indicate the makings of a shutdown corner are somewhere inside Marco Wilson. In 2022 with the Cardinals, he started 13 games, playing in 14 total. Over a 777 snap sample size, Wilson shined, allowing only 50 completions on 87 targets for 546 yards (10.9 average) and four TDs while having all three of his career interceptions. The 77.1 passer rating relinquished is superb.
He was unable to maintain that level of play, allowing passer ratings over 110 in every other year of his career, which explains why he was available to the Dolphins on a likely minimum contract.
If nothing else, Wilson will provide experienced competition on a team that is supposedly shifting toward a meritocracy. He has also played 300+ special teams snaps, meaning the opportunity to carve out a role is definitely there. Dolphins fans will have to wait some time to see how this one turns out.