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Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPN
MIAMI — Veteran defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is expected to sign with the Miami Dolphins, a source told ESPN, in the wake of a season-ending Achilles injury to linebacker Jaelan Phillips.
The South Florida native Pierre-Paul, who signed with the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 16, confirmed he would join the Dolphins with a post to his Instagram account Monday night.
“I would like to thank the New Orleans Saints and the organization for giving me the opportunity to play for them,” he wrote. “I can’t even lie it was a hard decision to make, to all the guys in the locker room. I appreciate y’all accepting me as a teammate, and to all the coaches appreciate you guys for believing in me
“I’M COMING HOME.”
Pierre-Paul was a first-round pick of the New York Giants in 2010 and has recorded 94.5 career sacks in 14 NFL seasons.
Phillips suffered a torn Achilles during last week’s 34-13 win over the New York Jets. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said afterward the team is confident in its depth players’ ability to fill the void left by Phillips, including linebackers Bradley Chubb, Andrew Van Ginkel and David Long Jr.
However, he said, there is no expectation that any player outright replaces Phillips, who is tied for the team lead with 6.5 sacks.
“You don’t necessarily replace Jaelan Phillips. But you can have guys that are fully capable to step up and kind of get his production through different ways,” McDaniel said Saturday. “We are fortunate enough to have some depth … You don’t necessarily replace him, but it just gives different people opportunities and you kind of spread that out to do your best to compensate for that production loss.”