On Friday, news broke of defensive tackle Teair Tart’s decision to sign with the Miami Dolphins despite reportedly receiving interest from other teams such as the Houston Texans — who Tart spent part of the 2023 regular season playing for — and Minnesota Vikings.
BREAKING: DT Teair Tart is signing with the #Dolphins, per @Schultz_Report
Welcome to Miami! pic.twitter.com/tSMcwgFXDK
— Dolphin Nation (@Dolphin_Nation) April 5, 2024
Several teams were in on Teair Tart, including the #Vikings and #Texans – who wanted to bring him back to Houston – but Tart chose South Beach, where he starred at nearby @FIUFootball in college.
The #Dolphins add a quality DT. https://t.co/j3lgnPV1JX
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) April 5, 2024
Tart, who went undrafted back in 2020, played for two teams — the Texans and Tennessee Titans — during his first four seasons in the NFL and spent three-plus seasons in Tennessee.
He logged 13 combined appearances (nine starts) with Houston and Tennessee during the 2023 regular season and finished with 24 combined tackles, 17 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss, seven assists on tackles and four quarterback hits.
The other two teams who were allegedly interested in acquiring Tart — the Vikings and Texans — experienced varying degrees of success in the 2023 regular season.
The Texans were a legitimately good football team, as they ended the regular season with a record of 10-7, which was the best of any team in the AFC South division. Houston even won a playoff game against the Cleveland Browns before its season came to an end against the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the postseason.
The Vikings, meanwhile, finished with a regular-season record of 7-10. Interestingly, Minnesota fared much better on the road than it did at home, as evidenced by its 5-4 away record and 2-6 home record.
Perhaps the Dolphins signed Tart to fill a void after losing a defensive tackle in Christian Wilkins to the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency. Wilkins — who was a member of the Dolphins franchise for the first five seasons in the NFL after the team drafted him in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft — was a difference-maker for Miami during the 2023 campaign, as he totaled nine sacks across 17 regular-season appearances.
Plus, Wilkins accumulated 65 combined tackles, 38 solo tackles and 23 quarterback hits in his last season with the Dolphins.
While it would perhaps be naive to assume that the acquisition of Tart will make up for the loss of Wilkins, it seemingly is a wise move by the Dolphins to improve their depth at the defensive tackle position.
