Tank Carradine has played in 45 NFL games in six NFL seasons, and he’s on his sixth head coach. Suffice it to say, he’s struggled to find a good fit.
But after playing just one game last year and asking for his release from the Raiders, he’s hoping he’s found one with Brian Flores and the Dolphins.
The Dolphins are in a position to take a flyer on players with any degree of talent, and the former second-round pick of the 49ers was signed in February to a low-risk deal.
“When you bounce around [the league] you definitely wait for that perfect opportunity to get on a team that believes in you,” Carradine said, via Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Sometimes you get on teams where they believe in you, things happen and then they have a change of heart about you as a player.
“You can go out there, make a couple of mistakes and they are ready to move on. You’re not their guy no more. You’ve got to be their guy. Sometimes it’s not that you’re not good enough, it’s that you don’t fit the system. They don’t like how you’re rushing on the edge. You don’t bend low enough.”
Going through Jim Harbaugh, Jim Tomsula, Chip Kelly, Kyle Shanahan, and Jon Gruden in rapid succession can make a man jaded. Carradine also has to overcome more than his share of injuries in his career, but he’s hoping getting down to 260 pounds will help him find his niche.
With the Dolphins, he’s got a chance to fill in after a mass exodus on defense, and he hopes that Flores can provide the fit and the stability he’s been searching for.