Free agent LB Spencer Paysinger signs with Miami Dolphins

MIAMI (AP) — Free agent linebacker Spencer Paysinger signed Thursday with the Miami Dolphins, bolstering a position thinned by offseason departures.

Paysinger is a four-year veteran with 14 career starts, all for the New York Giants in 2011-14, and he was their unofficial captain on special teams.

This offseason the Dolphins have lost linebackers Philip Wheeler, Dannell Ellerbe and Jason Trusnik, all of whom started games last year.

"I did my homework on them," Paysinger said, "and I saw that they had a few linebackers that aren't with the team anymore, and it just looked like an opportunity."

Paysinger was undrafted out of Oregon, where he was a teammate of Dolphins defensive end Dion Jordan. Jordan, the third overall pick in the 2013 draft, has struggled in his first two NFL seasons.

"I remember him coming in his first day at Oregon and thinking this dude was insane, being 6-6 and 225 and he could move," Paysinger said. "Now that I'm here, I would love to help out any way possible. I know he's a great person, he's a great athlete and just the fact that he's from my Oregon family, I'll always go to bat for him."

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