The Phinsider
The Miami Dolphins are heading into the 2026 NFL season rebuilding the entire franchise, from the front office through the coaching staff and on to the roster. The Dolphins are looking to reset a franchise that has struggled to consistently reach the playoffs and has not won in the playoffs since the 2000 season. Miami is looking to the future even as the load up for this year.
Miami’s rebuild has featured several free-agent signings on one-year contracts, giving them veterans for the year while they work out of a salary-cap mess. One of those free agent additions is edge rusher Josh Uche, who signed as a free agent in March.
Name: Josh Uche
Number: 9
Position: Edge
Height / Weight: 6’3” / 226 pounds
Age (at start of season): 27 (turns 28 in Week 2)
Experience: 7th year
College: Michigan
Draft: 2020 2nd round (60th overall)
Acquired: 2026 free agent signing
Contract: 1-year, $1.4 million
2026 salary cap: $1.3 million
Contract details via OverTheCap.com.
Games played: 12
Tackles: 23
Sacks: 1
Passes defensed: 1
Uche signed a one-year contract with Philadelphia in the 2025 offseason with the expectation that he would compete for a starting position as an outside linebacker and provide quality defensive snaps. When the season started, Uche was a rotational pass rusher. Then the Eagles traded for Jaelan Phillips from the Dolphins, and Uche’s defensive contributions essentially ended eight games into the season.
Brandon Lee Gowton at Bleeding Green Nation wrote about Uche when he signed with the Dolphins, looking back at the 2025 campaign:
It’s a little weird that Uche fell out of favor since he seemed to be a solid contributor. Funny enough, Pro Football Focus actually had him as the Eagles’ highest-graded defender on the team last year. While that evaluation is obviously ridiculous, it does speak to him being more useful than not at all. But Vic Fangio clearly wasn’t eager to play him and the Eagles’ defensive coordinator has more than earned the benefit of the doubt.
For some reason, I am not likely to give Fangio the same benefit of the doubt that Gowton extends him, but the fact remains that Uche saw his playing time limited to special teams for much of the second half of the season and did not find his way back into the pass-rush rotation.
Defensive end signings: Robert Beal, Jr., Seth Coleman, Cameron Goode (re-signed), Rodney McGraw (UDFA), David Ojabo, Mason Reiger (UDFA), Josh Uche
Released: Bradley Chubb, Derrick McLendon (waived)
Drafted: Trey Moore (4th round), Max Llewellyn (7th round)
Uche probably has an early lead for the starting defensive end position opposite Chop Robinson, but he will have to earn the spot throughout the summer. Uche, growing up in South Florida, used film of former Dolphins edge rusher Cameron...
