Former FIU defensive tackle inks one year deal with Dolphins

Will Duval | Sports Director

After spending four years in the National Football League, former Panthers’ defensive tackle Teair Tart signed a one year contract with the Miami Dolphins, as announced by the team on April 8, 2024.

Tart, measuring in at 6-2 and 304 pounds, joined the FIU football team in 2018 and spent two seasons on the roster. He spent the 2017 season with Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa and the 2016 season with ASA College in New York.

Over his two year career with the team, Tart appeared in a total of 23 games and started 10 times. By its conclusion, he accumulated 38 solo tackles, 51 total tackles, six sacks, two forced fumbles and a deflected pass.

In the 2019 season, he started in eight of his 11 games played and set career highs in tackling.​​ That year, he finished with 24 solo tackles, 32 total tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.

Upon the conclusion of the 2019 season, Tart declared for the 2020 NFL Draft, where he went undrafted. However, the Tennessee Titans signed him to a three year contract as an undrafted free agent in the 2020 offseason.

He spent slightly over three seasons with the Titans before he was released on Dec. 15, 2023. By the end of his tenure, Tart started in 36 of his 47 available games and accumulated 55 total tackles.

Only a few days later, the Houston Texans claimed Tart off of waivers on Dec. 18 and signed him for the remainder of the 2023-2024 season. With the team, he appeared in two games and registered one assisted tackle.

Upon the conclusion of the 2023-2024 season, Tart’s contract with Houston expired and he entered unrestricted free agency. The Dolphins jumped on the opportunity to sign him and brought him in on a one year contract.

Joining former Panthers’ tight-end Jonnu Smith, Tart is now one of two former FIU football players on Miami’s roster. Both players made an appearance at the team’s Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 13, 2024.

When reflecting on the success of the team’s alumni on the professional level, head coach Mike MacIntyre said, “it’s great, they were here tonight. We introduced them to the crowd and the players, it was great having them here, it really was.”

“We’ve got some guys on this team that will be playing somewhere like that one day, so it’s always good to have those guys back,” he concluded.

Returning to the city where he played in college, Tart looks to compete for a starting position on the Dolphins’ defensive line this season. Between the signings of both him and Smith, the team features some of the top talent that FIU’s program has produced.

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