Donovan Edwards

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

The Miami Dolphins secured decent value with Donovan Edwards at $1M AAV over three years, earning a C+ CVI that reflects a fair market deal for a developmental running back. Edwards enters the league as an unproven commodity, making this modest investment appropriately sized for a player whose NFL production remains a question mark. At his age, there's meaningful upside if he can translate any college success to the professional level, though the running back position's brutal learning curve makes immediate impact unlikely. The three-year structure gives Miami flexibility to evaluate Edwards without major salary cap consequences, essentially buying lottery tickets on a position where late-round gems occasionally emerge. This represents solid roster building rather than a franchise-altering move — the Dolphins aren't betting heavily on Edwards becoming a featured back, but they're getting an affordable look at a player who could develop into a contributing piece of their backfield rotation.

Contracts in the Same Value Band

Other same-position deals the Contract Value Index also places in the C band — a quick read on where Donovan's contract sits relative to comparable money.

Performance Analysis

At 23 years old and barely a season into his professional career, Donovan Edwards currently registers as replacement-level at the running back position, and the D+ performance grade reflects exactly what the available evidence supports. His lone statistical contribution on record — 39 receiving yards across three games — is a thin line that tells you almost everything: he has seen the field, but the offense hasn't been running through him in any meaningful capacity. There's no indication in the data of a workhorse role or consistent involvement in the ground game, and three games in with that production level, Edwards is functioning as a depth piece rather than a contributor driving outcomes. He arrived in Miami after being poached off Washington's practice squad, which immediately frames the ceiling of this opportunity — this is a reclamation project, not a feature-back conversation, regardless of whatever touchdown production he accumulated at prior levels. The Dolphins' modest investment signals organizational depth rather than genuine backfield stakes, and with the regular season still 131 days away, Edwards has time to reshape his standing during the preseason, but the burden of proof is entirely on him. Nothing about the current trajectory suggests a breakout is imminent; the path forward runs through earned snaps, not assumed ones.

How Donovan Compares at the Position

Donovan Edwards ranks 44th of 181 graded running backs by performance. That slots Donovan between Amar Johnson (D+) just ahead and Cody Schrader (D) just behind.

Fan Sentiment

Donovan Edwards enters the 2026 season with a C-grade public perception that perfectly mirrors the indifferent shrug of the coverage surrounding his arrival in Miami — neither a story worth celebrating nor one worth criticizing. The narrative driving that lukewarm reception is straightforward: signing a running back off a practice squad for $1M AAV reads as a roster-management footnote, and the headlines have treated it exactly that way, positioning Edwards as organizational depth rather than a backfield contributor with any real upside. That perception aligns uncomfortably well with his D+ performance grade — his 2025 season produced just 39 receiving yards across three games with Washington, which is replacement-level production that gives the media no compelling counter-narrative to work with. The Dolphins' recent transaction activity, which includes routine signings at long snapper, punter, and tight end alongside minor secondary cuts, reinforces the picture of a team making quiet depth moves rather than bold investments, and Edwards fits that template entirely. The lone positive thread in the coverage — references to his college production as a 25-touchdown running back — hasn't gained enough traction to reframe him as a reclamation worth tracking, because the practice squad context drowns it out. His path to better perception runs entirely through Miami's training camp and preseason, where earning meaningful snaps is the only thing that will shift this narrative off its current flat trajectory.