Dolphins History Lesson: Notable August Signings (And How They Worked Out)

After the signing of veteran cornerback Mackensie Alexander earlier this week, Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said, "It’s hard to get competition that has a chance to make the team in the middle of camp."

Indeed, it's rather unusual for established veteran or high-profile players like Alexander to be available at this time of the year, halfway through the preseason and some three weeks before the start of the regular season.

But it does happen. And it has happened before with the Dolphins. And when it has happened with the Dolphins, sometimes the acquisitions have paid off, sometimes they haven't.

We revisit those kind of signings in our latest Dolphins history lesson.

NOTABLE DOLPHINS AUGUST SIGNINGS SINCE 2000

2019 — DT ROBERT NKEMDICHE

Like his University of Mississippi teammate Laremy Tunsil, Nkemdiche was a first-round pick in the 2016 draft, though he didn't pan out with the Arizona Cardinals and was out of the league when the Dolphins came calling. Nkemdiche was dealing with a knee issue at the time and was placed on PUP, where he remained for the first two months of the regular season. After he was activated, Nkemdiche showed little, played 16 defensive snaps in two games and was released.

2018 — DL KENDALL LANGFORD

Ten years after he started for the AFC East champion Dolphins as a rookie third-round pick, Langford signed with Miami again after six years away from the team. But Langford wasn't the same player, was among the final cuts to the 53-player limit and that was the end of his NFL career.

2017 — QB JAY CUTLER

Dolphins fans obviously remember this one, then-coach Adam Gase reaching out to his former quarterback after Ryan Tannehill went down with a season-ending ACL injury in practice. Cutler gave up his new gig as an NFL color analyst to join the Dolphins and produced an uneven performance (6-8 record, 80.8 passer rating) before retiring for good after the season.

2017 — LB REY MAUALUGA

A longtime starter on the Cincinnati Bengals, Maualuga was signed by the Dolphins after rookie second-round pick Raekwon McMillan sustained a torn ACL in the preseason opener. Maualuga needed to work his way into shape in Miami before he eventually became a starter. After making four pretty uneventful starts, Maualuga was arrested for battery over a $40 bar tab and subsequently released by the Dolphins.

2014 — C SAMSON SATELE

This is one that worked out pretty well for the Dolphins. When center Mike Pouncey underwent offseason hip surgery with the expectation he'd miss the start of the regular season, the Dolphins reached out to Satele, who had played two seasons for them after being a second-round pick in 2007 and then five more seasons with the Raiders and Colts. Satele played well enough at center that they kept him in the starting lineup and moved Pouncey to right guard after his return. Satele ended up starting all 16 games in his final NFL seasons and Pouncey made the Pro Bowl after playing 12 games at guard.

2014 — QB BRADY QUINN

Many Dolphins fans wanted Quinn to be the team's first-round choice in 2007 instead of Ted Ginn Jr., but by the time he was signed by Miami seven years later he no longer was a promising prospect after being dumped by six teams. It wouldn't take long before the Dolphins would make it seven, as Quinn was released 15 days after he signed in his last NFL stop.

2008 — QB CHAD PENNINGTON

This is the most memorable August signing of all for the Dolphins in the 2000s. In Tony Sparano's first year as head coach, trying to rebuild a team that had gone 1-15 the previous season, the Dolphins had assembled a solid veteran roster but one that was missing a dependable quarterback. That guy became Pennington after the Jets released him in the aftermath of their trade acquisition of future Hall of Famer Brett Favre. While his Dolphins time was marked by injuries, Pennington was the perfect fit in that 2008 season when he turned in perhaps the best season ever by a Miami quarterback not named Marino to help the team win the AFC East title.

2006 — DT DAN WILKINSON

The first overall pick in the 1994 draft, Wilkinson had started for 12 seasons in the NFL when the Dolphins called him out of retirement in August 2006. Wilkins ended up playing 10 games for Miami in 2006, but his impact (14 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 3 passes defensed) was minimal before a knee injury ended his season. The Dolphins traded to Denver the following March, but he instead decided to retire again — this time for good.