Following the recent departure of All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, some Miami Dolphins have had their eye on free-agent corner Asante Samuel Jr. as someone who the team should consider signing before the start of the upcoming 2025 season.
Despite the interest from Dolphins fans, and perhaps even the organization itself, some recent comments from Samuel's father, former NFL cornerback Asante Samuel, could end up preventing the free-agent defender from signing with Miami this year.
During a recent episode of his "Say What Needs To Be Said" podcast, the elder Samuel went on a bit of a rant about the current state of the Dolphins.
"The Dolphins had no reason to trade Jalen Ramsey, other than they’re sensitive, there’s no leadership in the Dolphins organization. Mike McDaniel is a pushover. Chris Grier, the general manager, he has no backbone. These guys over here, the Miami Dolphins, they are running this team like a little league team."
Will Miami Dolphins stay away from Asante Samuel Jr. after his father's comments about the team?
The younger Samuel is still a free agent, which means he currently has nowhere to play for the 2025 season. If he had any hopes of ending up with Miami in the near future, that possibility might have just vanished after his father's recent comments.
It might seem like nothing to some, but why would a team like the Dolphins want to sign someone whose own parent is going online and ranting about how poorly he believes the franchise is run?
There are a number of other free-agent cornerbacks Miami could sign this summer who come with a much lower chance of a parent generating headlines about the team for all the wrong reasons.
Now, is this fair to Samuel, who is just hoping to land with a team after spending the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Los Angeles Chargers? No, it's definitely not.
But it's also not hard to understand why the comments from his father are something that could give the Dolphins second thoughts about signing the young cornerback this year.