Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Ezukanma inks rookie deal; whole draft class is signed
The Miami Dolphins signed rookie wide receiver Erik Ezukanma on Friday to get the team’s entire four-member draft class under contract.
Linebacker and thirdround pick Channing Tindall was signed on May 25, and on May 13, the Dolphins inked outside linebacker Cameron Goode and quarterback Skylar Thompson, their two seventh-round picks.
Last offseason, Miami went right up against the start of training camp before signing its final drafted 2021 rookie, second-round pick Liam Eichenberg on July 27, 2021.
Fourth-round picks were the slowest to agree to rookie deals this cycle, largely because the Houston Texans gave running back Dameon Pierce, the second selection of the round, an extra $25,000 over his minimum. Agents for several of the picks that followed were asking for a similar deal.
Ezukanma was taken 18 picks later, No. 125 overall, as the Dolphins’ top Day 3 selection. It was a mild surprise given that Miami had already added multiple receivers in the offseason, including six-time Pro Bowler Tyreek Hill and freeagent slot Cedrick Wilson, and the team went without selecting an offensive lineman in the draft.
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier cited the team’s best-player-available philosophy with the pick.
“We were following our board,” Grier said following the late April draft. “We don’t reach for people. We tried to move up a couple of times, but we had limited resources in terms of being able to move around.”
The Dolphins only had four picks in the 2022 draft, with the first one coming at No. 102 late in the third, in large part because of the trade for Hill that sent Miami first- and secondround picks as part of a fivepick package to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Ezukanma, as a 6-foot-2, 206-pound wideout, presents a bigger body in the Dolphins’ receiving corps after the team traded away veteran 6-3 receiver DeVante Parker to the New England Patriots this offseason. Hill and second-year receiver Jaylen Waddle are smaller speed threats.
Ezukanma, who has gone through rookie minicamp, organized team activities and veteran mandatory minicamp with the Dolphins, will compete in training camp among a second unit at wideout that also includes Preston Williams, Lynn Bowden, Trent Sherfield and River Cracraft. Miami also has undrafted rookie Braylon Sanders and practice squad receivers from last season in DeVonte Dedmon and Cody Core.