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The Miami Dolphins secondary is one gigantic question mark a few weeks before the start of training camp, and there's no question they could have used a proven veteran like Rasul Douglas.
Except that the idea of bringing back Douglas after his impressive 2026 performance pretty much was done once free agency came and went and the Dolphins signed a handful of younger cornerbacks, all of them reclamation projects or players at crossroads.
And now the possibility of the Dolphins deciding to add Douglas around the start of training camp, as they did last summer, is gone after the Monday morning report from ESPN's Adam Schefter indicating that Douglas would be joining the Washington Commanders on a one-year deal worth up to $3.8 million.
Douglas will be joining in Washington former Dolphins assistant coach Dan Quinn as he tries to rebuild a porous defense in the hopes of being able to compete in the AFC East.
To that end, Douglas makes perfect sense for the Commanders as a missing piece for a playoff run.
WHY DOUGLAS DIDN'T MAKE SENSE FOR MIAMI Remember that even Washington struggled badly last season, the Commanders were in the NFC Championship Game just two years ago and they could return to contender status very quickly if quarterback Jayden Daniels can stay healthy.
In short, they're at a very different stage than the Dolphins.
It's not like Miami couldn't have used Douglas at cornerback when their secondary has all sorts of question marks, with ESPN declaring in a story Monday it was the biggest weakness on a roster they ranked as the worst in the entire NFL.
Douglas was very good for the Dolphins in 2026 after he was signed in the aftermath of cornerback injuries to Artie Burns and Kader Kohou.
Once he entered the starting lineup after Storm Duck was injured in the season opener at Indianapolis, Douglas turned in high-quality work.
According to Pro Football Reference, opponents completed only 54.5 percent of passes with Douglas in coverage with only a 73.0 passer rating the passer rating was the 10th-best among cornerbacks who started at least 10 games, according to PFR.
But Douglas didn't match what the Dolphins wanted in the first year of the rebuild because he'll be 31 in late August and he's just two years removed from a very difficult season in Buffalo.
So who knows where he'll be as a cornerback when the Dolphins are ready to compete, hopefully in 2027 but maybe not before 2028.
There's also the financial component and this is where we point out that the $3.8 million that Douglas could get from Washington is a higher total than any player the Dolphins signed this year outside of quarterback Malik Willis.
The highest cap number for a Dolphins cornerback in 2026 is $3.5 million and belongs to rookie first-round pick Chris Johnson, and that's because of the proration of his signing bonus.
No other cornerback on the roster is scheduled to make more than $1.3 million.
The Dolphins did have the cap space to re-sign Douglas at the numbers he'll be getting from Washington assuming he would have wanted to come back to Miami but there's a blueprint in place and GM Jon-Eric Sullivan clearly is not deviating from it.
It's the same thing with those big-name wide receivers on the free agent market that some fans would like to add, whether it be Stefon Diggs or Keenan Allen.
And it's the same thing for another cornerback, former Dallas Cowboys pick machine Trevon Diggs.
The Dolphins are not looking to plug holes right now just to win one or two more games in 2026.
They're looking at the big picture.
That big picture really never included Rasul Douglas for 2026, no matter how well he played for Miami last season.
Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and host of the All Dolphins Podcast.
Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website.
In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine.
During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between.
The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season.
A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football.
He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.
Follow @PoupartNFL.