You've got to feel pretty bad for cornerback Artie Burns. The former Steelers first-round pick just signed with Miami not long ago and he was poised to make a big-time impact after the team surprisingly traded Jalen Ramsey to the Steelers.
Unfortunately for Burns and head coach Mike McDaniel, however, he won't be able to make a difference for the AFC East side in 2025. That's because his season is over before it can even get started. On Wednesday, Burns went down with what looked to be a serious-looking injury.
Fast forward to Thursday and it has been confirmed that he did in fact tear his ACL - just brutal news for him and Miami as a whole. With the Burns news coming in, the Dolphins have brought in a different veteran cornerback, signing Cornell Armstrong to a one-year contract according to his agent:
The Miami Dolphins are signing my client Cornell Armstrong (CB, Southern Miss) to a one year deal. 8-year vet is returning to the team that drafted him in 2018.
— Brett Tessler (@TesslerSports) July 24, 2025
Miami has signed CB Cornell Armstrong following the Artie Burns ACL injury news
As most Dolphins fans might remember, Armstrong was originally drafted by the organization in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. That fall and winter, he appeared in 15 games with the Dolphins, finishing with a modest eight total tackles.
Since then, he has played for the Texans and Falcons. He last appeared in a regular season game with Atlanta back in 2022. In 2023, he was placed on IR by Atlanta and he wasn't on a team last year. Miami is kicking the tires here to see if he's still got some game left in him, but this certainly isn't the kind of sexy signing that the Miami faithful were hoping for.
Throughout his career, Armstrong has started four games and made 39 total appearances. To go from Ramsey, to Burns, to Armstrong is something. The door will certainly be open for Miami to bring in another CB soon, but for now it will be Armstrong who will be getting extra snaps at practice with the rest of the Dolphins defense.
Meanwhile for Burns, he'll look to get started with his rehab as soon as possible. It really is an unfortunate injury for him and it's one that totally spoils his return to the area. During his college playing days, Burns was a standout for the Miami Hurricanes and he's still beloved over town because of his electric play.
When it was first revealed that the Dolphins were bringing him in, those same Canes fans had to be jacked up. Burns spent the first four years of his career with the Steelers before making stops with the Bears and Seahawks. Losing him for the year is brutal for the Dolphins and it now has people even more upset that Ramsey is gone too.