NFL Capsules: Cardinals agree to terms with LB Joey Porter
TEMPE, Ariz. — Four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter agreed to a three-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals on Friday.
Porter, entering his 12th season, spent the past three with the Miami Dolphins, who released him in March. He played the first eight years of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With 92 career sacks, Porter trails only Jason Taylor (127½) among active players. Porter has 12 career interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, 23 forced fumbles and nine fumble recoveries with two returned for TDs.
Porter will join a team with a coaching staff that includes several members of the Steelers’ staff when he was with Pittsburgh. They include coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers’ offensive coordinator.
Porter had been courted recently by the Washington Redskins.
When he met with Cardinals officials at the team’s headquarters on March 11, Porter said the familiarity with the coaches was a big reason he was considering Arizona. He also wanted to be relatively near his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif.
"I was looking to play for a West Coast team and I know everything Whiz is about," Porter said at the time. "He had me over there in Pittsburgh for eight years so I don’t have to be blindsided by some new coaches and trying to wonder how I fit. I know exactly how I fit. I know how he would try and use me if I was here and I am just trying to be a piece to the puzzle that’s already there."
Porter disputed the perception that, because of his declining stats with the Dolphins, he could no longer play at the elite level he had established in Pittsburgh.
"I’ve got a lot left," he said last week. "All you have to do is turn on the tape and I feel like I don’t have to sell myself. What I did on the football field is going to sell that for me. With my role being reduced to the playing time I did have and missing three games, I still mustered up enough to lead the team (with nine sacks)."
Whisenhunt called the addition of Porter "exciting on many levels."
"Two areas that come to mind are his productivity on the field, getting 26.5 sacks over the last two years is pretty impressive, especially considering last year with not even playing a full season," Whisenhunt said. "Also the mentality he brings, it’s something we have made great progress with as a team. Having another veteran player, who has had great success in this league, to contribute to that will only help us in an area defensively where we want to improve."
Titans get DE Jason Babin from Eagles
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee has acquired defensive end Jason Babin after the Philadelphia Eagles declined to match the Titans’ offer.
Under a right of first refusal clause the Eagles put into Babin’s contract, they had one week to match the offer sheet signed Wednesday. Without the clause, Babin would be an unrestricted free agent because of his six years of NFL service.
The Titans announced that Philadelphia notified the NFL on Friday it would not match the offer.
"We’re happy our deal with Jason worked out," general manager Mike Reinfeldt said in a statement. "He’s a high-energy player and a good pass rusher, and he fits what we do very well. He has all offseason to come in and work with Coach (Jim) Washburn and become a part of our rotation at defensive end."
Babin, a first-round draft pick in 2004 out of Western Michigan, has played for Houston, Seattle, Kansas City and Philadelphia. Last season, the 6-foot-3, 267-pound end played in 12 games and had 20 tackles and 2½ sacks for the Eagles.
He will help replace Kyle Vanden Bosch, who signed with Detroit on the first day of free agency, and Jevon Kearse, who was benched in October in the final year of his contract.
Babin said he had been trying not to think too much of the deal, not knowing if the Eagles would match the offer. He said in a statement he was ecstatic and can’t wait to start working with the Titans and Washburn.
"The style of defense the Titans play, as far as what the defensive line does and the way they want their guys to play, it suits my abilities. They get wide, they come off the ball, they rush the passer, and they’re aggressive. To me, it’s just a natural fit," Babin said.
Jets sign former Seahawks special teams ace Laury
NEW YORK — The New York Jets have signed former Seahawks linebacker and special teams captain Lance Laury.
Laury was a restricted free agent who wasn’t tendered by Seattle, where he spent his first four seasons. He had 21 tackles and one forced fumble on special teams last season.
He’ll help bolster a Jets unit that has already lost special teams standouts in Wallace Wright (Carolina) and Marques Murrell (New England), and likely Larry Izzo, a free agent whose status is uncertain after suffering a season-ending spine injury last year.
Laury was signed by Seattle as an undrafted free agent out of South Carolina in 2006.
