Dolphins coach Adam Gase said last month that the team is so deep at defensive end that a good player is probably going to be cut.The Dolphins now are again exploring another good player at that position.
According to a source, the team brought in Lions free agent defensive end Jason Jones for a visit on Friday --- his second in a month.The visit was first reported a short time ago by Pro Football Talk. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the visit will lead to a contract.
Jones, Chris Clemons and Andre Branch all visited last month in that order, and Miami opted for Branch.Jones, 29, started 15 games for Detroit last season and had 31 tackles and 4.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus rated him the league’s 43rd best edge defender last season.He had five sacks for Detroit as a starter in 2014.Jones has played eight NFL seasons: four in Tennessee, one in Seattle and three in Detroit. He has 28 career sacks, 24 passes defended and 10 forced fumbles.
A second-round pick out of Eastern Michigan in 2008, Jones also visited the Dallas Cowboys last month.The Dolphins have been planning to go into the season with Mario Williams starting at one defensive end spot and Cameron Wake and Andre Branch likely sharing time at the other, with Branch playing a lot on run-heavy downs to conserve Wake’s energy.
Wake is coming off an Achilles’ injury and the Dolphins had said his recovery has gone well.Jones’ signing, if it were to happen, could change the dynamics and create competition with Branch for the defensive end role, opposite Williams, in base defense.
The Dolphins also have Damontre Moore, Chris McCain, Terrence Fede and CFL import Cleyon Laing at defensive end and Dion Jordan is eligible for reinstatement after a one-year suspension.
“I keep looking at it and saying, man, ‘A good player is probably going to get cut somewhere,’" Gase said at the NFL owners meetings last month. "We have some good depth. I’m excited to see how this thing plays out. If we are healthy coming out of camp, that front is going to be tough.”
Also, the team is considering several defensive ends in the draft, including Clemson’s Kevin Dodd, who was summoned to team headquarters last week.
If Jones signs, it’s difficult to envision more than one defensive end (at the absolute most, two) making the team among Moore, McCain, Fede, Jordan, Laing and whoever else is added, barring an injury or a trade. But Jones did leave the Dolphins' facility for a second time without a contract, and it remains to be seen whether one will be forthcoming.
Mike Tannenbaum said last month that the number of compensatory picks that the Dolphins receive could be affected with free agents signed before mid-May.
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