D’Angelo Ross joins Dolphins on futures contract after three seasons with Patriots

D’Angelo Ross arrived as part of New England’s 2019 undrafted class.

The Miami Dolphins announced the signing of ex-New England Patriots cornerback D’Angelo Ross to a futures contract on Tuesday afternoon.

Ross, 25, was among 12 members of New England’s practice squad whose agreement expired as the week began.

The product of Fullerton College and the University of New Mexico had arrived as part of the organization’s 2019 undrafted class. After spending his rookie season on injured reserve and the duration of his sophomore season on the practice squad, Ross served as an elevation for four consecutive games to conclude 2021.

Those games included his first career start in the finale against Miami at Hard Rock Stadium. It was followed by action as a Covid-19 replacement in the wild card against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium.

Ross played 68 snaps on defense and 17 snaps on special teams over that span. He recorded three tackles while working between the slot and safety, and was charted by Pro Football Focus for conceding two completions for eight yards on three targets.

“D’Angelo is a really smart player,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told reporters as the calendar turned to January. “On scout team, he plays basically every position in the secondary. He has a really good understanding of what to do and techniques to do it in. He’s gained a lot of confidence of the coaching staff and his teammates based on is work ethic, his consistency and dependability on a daily basis. … He’s, again, got a good background and competency in our system and has developed a lot of confidence with his teammates and his coaches. That’s why we trust him in there.”

Under former head coach Brian Flores, the Dolphins finished the campaign with nine former Patriots players in the fold, including defensive backs Eric Rowe, Justin Coleman, Jason McCourty and Jamal Perry.

In additional movement on Tuesday, New England officially signed defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale to a futures contract, as first reported by ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Seven had previously reached futures pacts.