NEW YORK (March 28, 2007) -- The New York Jets agreed to terms on a three-year contract with free-agent defensive end David Bowens, his agent told The Associated Press.
The two sides reached the agreement late Tuesday night and will sign the contract Thursday, agent Harold C. Lewis said. The deal is for $6.1 million, with an additional $2 million in incentives that could make it worth as much as $8.1 million.
Bowens, who spent the last six seasons with Miami, is the fourth defensive end signed by the Jets in recent weeks, joining Kenyon Coleman, Andre Wadsworth and Michael Haynes. The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Bowens has 26 career sacks, including 18 in the last three years, and 168 total tackles in eight NFL seasons.
Bowens, who'll be 30 in July, had five sacks for Miami last year as a part-time player, and will likely serve as a pass-rush specialist for New York. He'll be reunited with former Dolphins coaches Dan Quinn, now the Jets' defensive line coach, and Tony Wise, New York's offensive line coach.
"We are excited to have him in New York and look forward to playing the Dolphins two times a year," Lewis said in an e-mail to the AP. "Having two of his ex-coaches in New York was the deciding factor."
Bowens was drafted in the fifth round out of Western Illinois in 1999 by Denver, but moved around often early in his career. The Broncos traded him to Green Bay after his rookie year, and the Packers sent him to Buffalo the following summer but he was soon cut. The Redskins signed him off waivers and cut him a few weeks later before the Dolphins signed him.