The Dolphins have replaced Jaelan Phillips’ roster spot — and Miami’s new decision maker turned to a familiar face from his past to do it
There’s nothing like a familiar face when a roster spot opens up mid-season.
The Miami Dolphins‘ reinforcements have brought a new name into the fray amid the vacancy left behind by the trade of Jaelan Phillips. When Miami shipped out Phillips for a 2026 third-round draft choice on Monday, it opened a significant portion of snaps on the edge for this Dolphins’ defense. It would have been easy to assume that a name like Quinton Bell, who played major snaps for Miami in 2024, would get a call up.
Instead, the Dolphins tapped into a practice squad from the NFC, taking advantage of a lingering connection with interim general manager Champ Kelly.
Dolphins sign EDGE defender Andre Carter II off Lions practice squad
Miami has signed pass rusher Andre Carter II off of the Detroit Lions’ practice squad to fill the spot left behind by Jaelan Phillips’ trade to Philadelphia. Carter II, an undrafted rookie out of Army in 2023, was a mid-season pickup by the Raiders last December while Kelly served as the team’s assistant general manager. Kelly, who left the Raiders this winter and joined the Dolphins’ front office, presumably tapped into his familiarity with Carter II during December of last year before targeting him to fill a spot on Miami’s 53-man roster.
Carter, who has just 68 career snaps on defense in his first two seasons in the NFL, will now look to seize more opportunities as Miami transitions to life without Phillips.
Andre Carter II’s NFL career thus far
- Undrafted out of Army in 2023
- Signed with the Minnesota Vikings and played nearly 250 total snaps as a rookie in 2023
- Played three games with the Las Vegas Raiders, overlapping with Miami interim GM Champ Kelly
- Released by Las Vegas in August, signed to Detroit Lions practice squad
- Signed with Dolphins 53-man roster on 11/5/2025
Carter will have his work cut out for him after the Dolphins opted not to move pass rusher Bradley Chubb yesterday ahead of the deadline. The Dolphins were long rumored to have interest in moving off of the former first-round draft choice but instead chose to stand pat after trading away Phillips.
But a Week 9 concussion for 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson could trickle into Week 10 — head coach Mike McDaniel disclosed that Robinson was not ready for on-field work during his Wednesday press conference. With potentially no Robinson to go with no more Phillips, one would assume the new addition, after seizing a 53-man roster spot, would be in line for some snaps if needed.
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It’s time for a new era. Let’s learn a lesson from this one.
