Ex-Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona lands with division rival

The Miami Dolphins have signed former New England Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona, as first reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN. Cardona was released by the Patriots shortly after April's draft, after spending the first 10 years of his career in New England.

For Cardona, the writing was on the wall for his time with the Patriots, after the team selected Vanderbilt long snapper Julian Ashby with the 251st pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

"I think anytime that you have to move on from players that have been at a place and that have been a part of successful football teams, it just comes down to our ability to acquire a player that we believe in strongly, and we just felt like that was the best decision to go with Julian [Ashby]," Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said about releasing Cardona, via Kaley Brown of Boston.com. "We’re going to have two young kickers that we’re going to be trying out, and after working Julian out, I think it became evident that that was probably what was in the best interest of the team.

"I have a lot of respect for Joe and what he’s done here," he continued. "We tried to do that in the most respectful way possible and give him an opportunity to go and catch on."

Cardona, 33, was a consistent starter for the Patriots for most of his tenure - starting 140 straight games - but a torn foot tendon suffered in Dec. 2022 snapped that streak and, somewhat, diminished his availability in the following years.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, desperately needed stability at the long snapper position, after playing five different ones in the 2024 season. A healthy Cardona should be their guy throughout the season.

Vrabel & co. released Cardona as a part of their effort to bring a new culture to New England. They drafted Ashby in the seventh round as his apparent replacement, meaning they also probably want to get younger at every facet of the game.

Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.