NFL Free Agents 2022: What are the Dolphins getting in Keion Crossen?

The Miami Dolphins are signing former New York Giants cornerback Keion Crossen, a move that can be made official sometime after the start of the new league year at 4 p.m. Eastern today. The past few days have seen a fast-and-furious “legal tampering” period, where teams and soon-to-be-free-agent players are essentially coming to terms on new contracts, though they cannot officially be executed until the start of the new league year. Who is Crossen and what are the Dolphins getting with the signing? I turned to Ed Valentine, the editor of Big Blue View, SB Nation’s New York Giants site, for a closer look at Crossen.

Valentine explained why the Giants were not looking to bring back Crossen, saying, “Keion Crossen was a Joe Judge favorite and the Giants traded a sixth-round pick to the Houston Texans to acquire him. Basically, Judge is no longer the Giants’ head coach, so Crossen is no longer part of the roster.”

Seems like a simple enough reason for a player to be available on the free agent market.

As for his play, Valentine explained, “Crossen can fly. He ran a 4.3 40-yard dash coming out of Western Carolina, and comes with the reputation of being a really good special teams coverage unit player and an OK emergency defensive back.”

However, there was disappointment among Giant fans with what they received when trading for Crossen. Valentine stated, “Unfortunately, in 2021 we didn’t see what the fuss was about. He certainly didn’t give the giants anything worth trading even a sixth-round pick for. Crossen committed five special teams penalties and I can’t remember him doing anything that really stood out — except for the penalties.”

Miami is likely looking for that speedster who can get down the field and make a play on punt- and kick-return coverage units. Crossen can be that player, but clearly needs to make sure those penalties do not follow him from New York to Miami.

What should the Dolphins expect to see in 2022 from Crossen? Valentine gave his thoughts, saying, “Potentially, there is a quality special teamer in there. There might even be an OK backup DB. We just didn’t see it in 2021.”