Jason Jones signs with Dolphins officially on one-year deal

Jason Jones is officially a member of the Miami Dolphins. The team announced the signing on Monday, ending a two-month  between the veteran defensive end and the South Florida franchise. The Dolphins and Jones met initially on March 12 at the start of free agency. The two sides kept in contact throughout the spring, but the Dolphins did not want to sign multiple free agents this offseason in an effort to protect the compensatory draft picks the team expects to receive next year for losing defensive end Olivier Vernon and running back Lamar Miller.

The NFL's formula for compensatory draft picks stops counting free agent signings on May 12.

Jones spent the last three seasons with the Detroit Lions, starting 34 games but missing most of the 2013 season due to injury. He started 15 games last year, recording 4.5 sacks, 7 tackles for a loss, and 31 total tackles. He began his career as a second-round pick for the Tennessee Titans in 2008, spending four years with the club before a one-year stint with the Seattle Seahawks in 2012. He has played defensive end and defensive tackle in his career, giving Miami some flexibility in when and where they use him this year. He has 175 career tackles with 28 sacks.

He provides additional depth for the Miami roster, behind starters Cameron Wake and Mario Williams. The Dolphins also have Terrence Fede, Andre Branch, and Chris McCain as player likely to make the roster this year as reserve defensive ends.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport tweeted the details of the signing:

1-yr deal worth more than $1.5M, source said. $1M+ guaranteed RT @MikeMcCartney7: Congrats to @JasonJones91 signing with the @MiamiDolphins

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 16, 2016

Miami started the day with about $18.5 million in salary cap space, according to the NFL Players Association.