NFL Insider Aaron Wilson reports that Defensive End/Edge Rusher Carl Lawson visited with the Miami Dolphins today. The Dolphins currently only have one healthy edge rusher on their roster in April and will be looking to add players to the position in the coming weeks and in the draft as they wait for Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips to return from injury at some point in the fall.
Lawson will turn 29 in June and was a 4th-round pick in the 2017 draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. Aside from Cincinnati, he has also played for the NY Jets most recently.
This past season with the Jets, Lawson played in only six games and started none. He had no sacks in 2023. In 2022, Lawson started all 17 games for the Jets and had 7 sacks on the season. For his career, Lawson has started 31 of 74 games and has 27 career sacks.
The Jets signed Lawson to a three-year, $45 million contract prior to the 2021 season, but their plans for him were dashed when he suffered a season-ending Achilles tear during training camp later that year. While he returned to action and had a solid 2022 season, Lawson didn’t play much in 2023, as the Jets seemed content to move on from him.
Lawson’s best football is behind him, but the Dolphins continue to look to add veteran players near or over the age of 30 on one-year deals to be a band-aid type player to get them through this season as they are tight against the cap and on defense are dealing with the Loss of Wilkins, Raekwon, Van Ginkel as well as navigating the injuries of Chubb and Phillips. Next offseason, when Miami has more salary cap space, as well as many more draft picks (including 3 in the 3rd round alone), they will look to find young players via free agency and the draft who can be more long-term answers. But Lawson fits in with what Miami has done this offseason, adding Jordan Poyer, Shaq Barrett, and potentially Odell Beckham Jr.
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