Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake's "fingers crossed" for playoff berth

Cameron Wake's journey began with the New York Giants, where he was then cut and eventually spent a stint in the CFL. It was then that he signed his deal with the Miami Dolphins, and the rest is history. Unfortunately, Wake's impressive NFL career has had just about everything a player could hope for except for one very special thing. A trip to the postseason.

Wake has been a star pass-rusher for years, and now playing next to the best defensive tackle in football in Ndamukong Suh, his numbers are expected to jump back up to elite status as offensive lines will be forced to double-team Suh and let Wake pass-rush with a one-on-one matchup. With all the changes the team has made this year, Wake is hoping that this year is the year the Dolphins finally get over the hump.

“My fingers are crossed,” Wake said on Tuesday, "It's the new year and it feels really good, obviously."

The addition of Suh is a big part of the Dolphins' optimism this upcoming season, his impact on the defense has been stated time and time again. His talent on the Lions defensive line made an otherwise average secondary and linebacker core one of the top defenses in the league with help from DT Nick Fairley and DE Ezekiel Ansah.

Now he'll be joining with Wake and DT Earl Mitchell on an overall more talented defense that features young up-and-coming linebacker Jelani Jenkins, Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes, and safeties Reshad Jones and Louis Delmas, the latter of whom was his teammate in Detroit.

The last time the Miami Dolphins made the playoffs was in 2008, the year they won the AFC East under then head coach Tony Sparano and their newly acquired quarterback Chad Pennington. That was also the year the New England Patriots lost QB Tom Brady to a season-ending knee injury. Wake came along one year later, and the Dolphins haven't made the playoffs since. But now with quarterback Ryan Tannehill entering his fourth year and steadily improving, and the additions made to the defense, Wake is hopeful that he'll finally make his first playoffs in his whole career.

This story was written by Luis Sung. Follow him on Twitter: @FLSportDebater