The New York Jets announced Thursday the signing of unrestricted free agent cornerback Andre Dyson. Terms of the contract were undisclosed. The announcement was made by Jets' General Manager Mike Tannenbaum.
"Andre is a good, young player who has extensive playing experience at the highest levels in the NFL," said Tannenbaum. "One of our priorities heading into the off-season was to acquire a cornerback that had valuable playing experience. In addition, he has played in two championship games and a Super Bowl and that experience will be an asset to the Jets."
Dyson, 26, joins the Jets following one season with the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks and a start in Super Bowl XL against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 5-10, 183-pound native of Clearfield, Utah began his professional career as a second-round selection of the Tennessee Titans in 2001 (60th player selected overall) out of the University of Utah. He played for the Titans for the first four seasons (2001-2004) of his career before moving on last season via unrestricted free agency."Andre is a smart and productive player," said Head Coach Eric Mangini. "His experience over the years will complement the defensive backfield and the young players in that group."
Through his first five professional seasons, Dyson has 17 interceptions, 69 pass breakups and five touchdowns in 72 regular-season games, 64 of them starts. In Seattle's 42-0 Monday night rout at Philadelphia last season, Dyson scored after an interception and a fumble recovery, becoming the first NFL player since 1999 to score on two defensive returns in the same game. He has accumulated 243 career tackles, as well as four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
In 2005 with Seattle, Dyson appeared in 10 regular season games, missing six with various injuries. Going into 2005, he had missed only two games. He was back in the starting lineup for all three postseason games, including the Super Bowl.
In 2004 with Tennessee, Dyson set a career-high with six interceptions and led the team with 15 passes defensed to go along with 40 tackles (34 solo). He also set career-highs in tackles (64) and passes defensed (16) in the 2003 season. Of his 17 career interceptions, four have been returned for touchdowns.
A three-year starter at Utah, Dyson played in 43 games with 29 starts. He returned four of his 12 career interceptions for touchdowns, which is a school record. He majored in sociology at Utah. Dyson, whose older brother, Kevin, is a wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens, was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, weighing only 1 lb., 9 oz. at birth, garnering the nickname "Miracle Baby."
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