Miami Dolphins continue huge day in free agency, land one of Patriots’ best defenders

The Dolphins, who had one of the league’s most feeble pass rushes in 2019, took steps to change that Monday, landing Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy hours after agreeing to terms with Bills linebacker Shaq Lawson.

So twice on Monday, the Dolphins not only significantly upgraded their defensive front seven but also weakened two AFC East rivals.

Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who is given significant say on personnel, advocated the signing of Van Noy, who played for him in New England in 2018.

The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Van Noy will get $51 million over four years, per NFL Network.

Vay Noy, 28, was used as a pass rusher primarily for the first time in his career last season and had 56 tackles, 6.5 sacks, three passes defended and three forced fumbles.He played in 15 games, starting all of them.

In 2018, he played under Flores, who was the Patriots’ de facto defensive coordinator that season, and had 92 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 16 games, all starts.

Drafted in the second round out of BYU in 2014, Van Noy played the first seasons of his career with Detroit, produced only one sack and 45 tackles in 30 games.

In October 2016, the Lions traded Van Noy and a seventh round pick to New England for a sixth round pick, and his career took off the next season, when he had 58 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 13 games.

So his sack numbers compute this way: one in 30 games for Detroit, 16.5 in 51 for New England.

Pro Football Focus rated Van Noy 16th among 107 edge defenders last season.