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Dolphins Bring In Pass Rusher for Free Agent Visit

The Miami Dolphins are still looking for help in light of the 2023 injuries to Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips

Alain Poupart

Carl Lawson
Carl Lawson / Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
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The Miami Dolphins have been busy in free agency, but they're probably not done yet.

The team brought in veteran pass rusher Carl Lawson for a visit Wednesday, according to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson.

Lawson is a six-year veteran who played six games for the New York Jets in 2023 after starting all 17 games the previous season.

He has 27 sacks in his NFL career, including 8.5 as a rookie fourth-round pick with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2017 and 7 for the Jets in 2022.

Lawson clearly fell out of favor last season when he never played more than 23 defensive snaps in any game. After injuring his back in the offseason, Lawson lost his starting job to 2022 first-round pick Jermaine Johnson, who emerged as a Pro Bowl player.

Lawson has overcome major injuries twice, a torn ACL he sustained during the 2018 season and a torn Achilles tendon sustained in training camp in 2021.

DOLPHINS STILL NEED EDGE DEFENDER HELP

The Dolphins already have signed veteran Shaquil Barrett this offseason, but still are thin at the edge defender spot because of the free agency departure of Andrew Van Ginkel and the uncertain status of Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips and Cameron Goode.

We should remember that the Dolphins played the playoff game at Kansas City with three veterans signed that week — Bruce Irvin, Justin Houston and Malik Reed — along with late-season acquisition Melvin Ingram.

Irvin, Houston and Ingram are unresricted free agents, while Reed is a "street" free agent because he was not on the Dolphins' 53-man roster at the end of the season, having been elevated from the practice squad for the playoff game.

If it's not Lawson, the Dolphins still figure to add a player or more at the position, whether in free agency or through the draft.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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