The Dolphins retained a key part of last year’s defensive line rotation when they agreed to terms on a two-year deal with Tony McDaniel and added a piece to their linebacking corps as well on Wednesday.
McDaniel played in 31 games for the Dolphins over the last two years, starting once and picking up four sacks. He is expected to work at defensive end and tackle for a line that also features a franchise-tagged Paul Soliai, Kendall Langford, Randy Starks and 2010 first-round pick Jared Odrick.
“I am a Dolphin at heart,” McDaniel said, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “I’m a big part of their defense. We have a lot of depth on the defensive line, and they showed they like me.”
The Dolphins defense will also feature Jason Trusnik this season. The former Browns and Jets linebacker signed a two-year deal with the team as an unrestricted free agent according to Jackson.
He started 15 times for the Browns in the last two years -- he was part of the package the Browns received in the Braylon Edwards deal -- and posted 3.5 sacks. His Jets-Browns pedigree made him obsolete on a Cleveland team no longer coached by Eric Mangini. Trusnik was also a very good special teams player with the Jets, a role that might suit him in Miami where Koa Misi and Cameron Wake are well situated at outside linebacker.
Trusnik is well known to new Dolphins assistants Brian Daboll and Bryan Cox. Both men worked for Mangini in both New York and Cleveland which means they saw a lot of Trusnik over the years.