Jamar Taylor

Jamar Taylor (born September 29, 1990) is an American football cornerback for the National Football League (NFL) who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Boise State.

Early years
Taylor was born in San Diego, California. He attended Helix High School in La Mesa, California, and played high school football for the Helix Highlanders.

College career
Taylor attended the Boise State University, where he played for the Boise State Broncos football team from 2008 to 2012. During his college career, he had 132 tackles, seven interceptions and four sacks. As a senior in 2012, he was a first-team All-Mountain West Conference (MWC) selection.

Taylor was also a track and field athlete for Boise State, and recorded a personal best in the 100 meters of 10.72 seconds in 2012.

Professional career
He received an invitation to the NFL combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 21, 2013, he participated at Boise State's pro day and opted to perform only positional drills. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Taylor was projected to be a first or second round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the fourth best cornerback prospect in the draft by Sports Illustrated, the fifth best cornerback by DraftScout.com, and the sixth best cornerback by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins selected Taylor in the second round (53rd overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. The pick used to draft him was acquired in a trade that sent Vontae Davis to the Indianapolis Colts. He was one of three defensive backs selected by the Dolphins in the 2013 NFL Draft, along with Will Davis (third round) and Don Jones (seventh round).

2013
On June 13, 2013, the Miami Dolphins signed him to a four-year, $3.62 million contract with $2 million guaranteed.

Taylor competed with Will Davis, Richard Marshall, and Nolan Carroll for the second cornerback job on the Dolphins' depth chart throughout training camp. Head coach Joe Philbin named him the Dolphins' sixth cornerback on the depth chart to begin the regular season, behind Brent Grimes, Nolan Carroll, Will Davis, R. J. Stanford, and Dimitri Patterson.

On September 30, 2013, he made his professional regular season debut during a 17-38 loss to the New Orleans Saints and made one tackle. He played in nine games his rookie year finishing with three total tackles.

2014
Taylor returned in 2014 and competed with Will Davis, Walt Aikens, Jalil Brown, Kevin Fogg, and Steven Clarke for the third cornerback position. He was named the Dolphins' third cornerback on their depth chart to begin the 2014 season behind Brent Grimes and Cortland Finnegan.

On November 13, 2014, Taylor earned his first career start after Cortland Finnegan was unable to play after sustaining an ankle injury the game prior. He finished the 22-9 win against the Buffalo Bills with a season-high seven solo tackles. The next game, he earned six solo tackles in a 36-39 loss to the Denver Broncos and suffered a dislocated shoulder during the game that sidelined him for the next three games. On December 23, 2014, he was placed on injured reserve. He finished the season with 31 combined tackles (30 solo) in 12 games and three starts.

2015
Taylor attended training camp in 2015 and competed with Will Davis, Brice McCain, Bobby McCain, and Zack Bowman for the second cornerback job left vacant by the retirement of Cortland Finnegan. He started the regular season behind Brent Grimes, Brice McCain, and Zack Bowman on the Dolphins' depth chart.

In the Miami Dolphins' season-opening 17-10 victory over the Washington Redskins and recorded a season-high nine combined tackles and made his first career pass deflection. On October 25, he earned his first start of the season after Brice McCain was sidelined with a knee injury he suffered the previous week. Taylor finished the 44-26 victory over the Houston Texans with seven combined tackles and a pass deflection. He started Weeks 7-12 and was a healthy scratch for four of the last five games of the season after struggling. Interim head coach Dan Campbell replaced Taylor on the active roster with Tony Lippett. He played in 12 games with six starts finishing the year with 48 tackles (35 solo), four pass deflections, and a fumble recovery.

Cleveland Browns
On April 30, 2016, Taylor was traded to the Cleveland Browns along with a seventh round pick (250th overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft for the Browns' seventh round pick (223rd overall) in the same draft. The Dolphins used the selection to draft quarterback Brandon Doughty.

2016
Taylor entered the Cleveland Browns' training camp competing with Tramon Williams, K'Waun Williams, Pierre Desir, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, and Justin Gilbert for the second starting cornerback job. Head coach Hue Jackson named Taylor one of the Browns' starting cornerbacks to begin the regular season, alongside Joe Haden.

He started the Browns' 10-29 season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, finishing with five solo tackles. On September 25, 2016, Taylor recorded a solo tackle, defended a pass, and made the first interception of his career, intercepting Miami Dolphins' quarterback Ryan Tannehill in a 24-30 overtime loss. The following game, he collected a season-high seven combined tackles, deflected a pass, and intercepted a pass from Kirk Cousins in a 20-31 loss to the Washington Redskins. In Week 16, he made five combined tackles, deflected three passes, and intercepted Philip Rivers as the Browns earned their first win of the season during a 20-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers. Through his first 11 games and 10 starts as a Brown, Taylor has set career highs with three interceptions and eight passes defended. He finished his first season in Cleveland with 57 combined tackles (46 solo), career-high 13 pass deflections, and a career-high three interceptions in 14 starts and 15 games.

On December 10, 2016, the Cleveland Browns signed Taylor to a three-year, $16.5 million contract extension with $5.5 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3 million.

2017
The Cleveland Browns named Taylor their starting cornerback to begin the regular season, alongside Jason McCourty.

During a Week 2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, he recorded a career-high nine combined tackles. On December 24, 2017, Taylor recorded a half-sack against the Chicago Bears, the first sack of his career. He finished the season playing in all 16 games, starting 15, recording a career-high 62 tackles along with 10 pass deflections.

Arizona Cardinals
On May 18, 2018, Taylor was traded to the Arizona Cardinals for a sixth round draft pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns placed Taylor on the trade block after signing free agent cornerbacks T. J. Carrie and E. J. Gaines and drafting Denzel Ward on the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He became the sixth Browns player traded by new Browns' general manager John Dorsey. He played in 10 games, starting three, before being released on November 19, 2018.

Denver Broncos
On December 4, 2018, Taylor signed with the Denver Broncos.

Seattle Seahawks
On May 9, 2019, Taylor signed with the Seattle Seahawks.