1:38pm: Bowman’s deal is for one year, tweets Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
1:20pm: After bringing him in for a visit this morning, the Dolphins didn’t waste any time reaching a contract agreement with free agent cornerback Zackary Bowman. According to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (via Twitter), Bowman signed with the team today. The club has since confirmed the move (Twitter link).
Bowman, 30, joined the Giants last year after spending the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Bears. The former fifth-round pick started five games for New York in 2014, and earned 458 overall defensive snaps.
According to Pro Football Focus’ data (subscription required), of the 108 qualified cornerbacks in the league last season, no player held opposing quarterbacks to a lower completion percentage on passes into his coverage than Bowman (36.1%). However, four of the 13 completions he did allow went for touchdowns.
The Dolphins notably added Ndamukong Suh to help fortify their defense earlier this offseason, but haven’t been quite as aggressive addressing the back end of the unit — cornerback Brice McCain is the only other free agent defensive back to join the club this offseason. Even with McCain and Bowman now in the mix, cornerback may be an area of focus for Miami in the upcoming draft.