Once a bitter rival, safety Jordan Poyer joins the other side with Dolphins

Jordan Poyer was just a couple of days removed from agreeing to sign with the Dolphins last week. He woke up well before the sun had come up in Costa Rica and sent a long text to his new coach, Mike McDaniel.

Just moments later, Poyer’s phone was buzzing with a call from McDaniel.

“I picked up the phone and we talked for a good 30 minutes,” Poyer said Monday on an introductory news conference. “So much respect for him. Not just as a coach ... but for overcoming a lot of his stuff that he’s had to deal with that I can really relate to. I’m just here to shed my light and be a light and that’s exactly what he is, too. You see it on ‘Hard Knocks,’ you know on the field ... He’s a great due, a great, great coach and [I have] a lot of respect for him.”

For years, Jordan Poyer was on the right side of a lopsided rivalry between the Dolphins and Bills. However, he has joined the other side, signing with Miami after his release from Buffalo. The Dolphins officially announced the signing on Monday.

Poyer said he was prepared to be released by the Bills almost two weeks ago; the team was dealing with a tight salary cap situation. He ended his seven-year tenure in Buffalo with 682 tackles, 22 interceptions and 11 sacks. Poyer was also voted to the Pro Bowl and named a first-team All-Pro.

“That’s not something that I’m going to look and put a star on the game,” he said of facing the Bills in 2024. “I just love playing the game of football. I love being out here in the warm weather, seeing the palm trees and the energy is alive, which makes me feel happy about, yeah, I’m extremely thankful to be in this position and to have this opportunity. I’m going to take it, run with it and do and be the best version of myself I can be, which I know can still play at a high level and still can impact a lot of games.”

Last year, when Poyer was an unrestricted free agent, he openly flirted with the idea of coming to Miami, where he lives during the offseason. Poyer, who lives about 30 minutes from the team’s facility in Miami Gardens, has strong relationships with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Tyreek Hill, among other Dolphins. The connection to South Florida goes even deeper, as the Marlins drafted Poyer in the 42nd round of the 2009 MLB Draft.

Poyer, though, re-signed with the Bills and produced another 100-tackle season, the fourth of his career. While Poyer will turn 33 in April, he said he believes he can still contribute quality football to a team that has seen him do it plenty of times at their expense.

“I’m super thankful, a lot of gratitude in this situation and being able to come in with an open mind and open heart to help, teach, to learn, to play and continue to play at a high level, which I know I can,” Poyer said. “So, again, I’m extremely thankful to be in this position and I’m ready to get to work.”

Poyer is one of several additions for a defense that has been reshaped this offseason and will implement a new scheme under coordinator Anthony Weaver.

“There’s a lot of great football players on this defense,” Poyer said, “and so you put it all together with that communication, with that trust that’s essentially built in the offseason and training camp and all throughout the season through the ups and downs. It’s all part of it but having that strong foundation and that strong trust, you can make anything shake.”

With his experience, Poyer could also be a valuable mentor to fourth-year player Jevon Holland, who said Poyer is one of the players he grew up admiring.

“He’s just an extremely athletic player, extremely gifted player that I’ve been following and watched kind of grow over the last few years,” Poyer said of Holland.

He added: “I want to help as much as I can. You can call me 32, I guess you call me old or whatever but at the same time, I have a lot of knowledge about this game. And I feel like I can bring and help players see the game maybe in a different light, a different perspective to making that play or even one step closer, helping me in situations. That connection is important. So we’ve got to work with each other? It’s not just me out there. It’s not just Jalen [Ramsey], [Kendall] Fuller or Holland. We’re out there as a group, and [if] we play good team football, the sky’s the limit for us. That’s something that OTAs is for, essentially training camp, is building those relationships, building those connections, learning about each other and continuing to just grow. That’s what we’re here to do.”