FOXBOROUGH, Mass – Joe Cardona is staying in the AFC East.
The Miami Dolphins announced on Friday that they have signed the veteran linebacker after he was released by the New England Patriots at the end of April.
This comes after the team drafted Vanderbilt long snapper Julian Ashby in the 2025 NFL Draft. This offseason, Mike Vrabel has put an emphasis on the younger players, releasing everyone that had any ties to the Super Bowl wins.
And ahead of rookie minicamp, Vrabel spoke with reporters about the decision to release Cardona.
“We’ve been through this already in the offseason. I think anytime that you have to move on from players that have been at a place and that have been a part of successful football teams, it just comes down to our ability to acquire a player that we believe in strongly, and we just felt like that was the best decision to go with Julian,” Vrabel said. “We’re going to have two young kickers that we’re going to be trying out, and after working Julian out, I think it became evident that that was probably what was in the best interest of the team.
“I have a lot of respect for Joe and what he’s done here. We tried to do that in the most respectful way possible and give him an opportunity to go and catch on.”
Cardona was selected by the Patriots in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Navy and remained with New England for nine seasons. Along with being a two-time Super Bowl champion, he was also named to the Patriots All-Dynasty Team.
Now he heads to Miami, where he can reunite with punter Jake Bailey, who was with the Patriots from 2019 to 2022. A familiar face and a familiar team considering he played them twice a season for nine seasons.