Patriots Announce Damione Lewis Signing

The New England Patriots officially announced the signing of free agent defensive linemen Damione Lewis, which was initially reported last Friday by ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Lewis signed a one-year deal, and while the full financial details remain unknown, NFLPA records have Lewis on the books for a $1.15 million dollar base salary.

Chosen by the St. Louis Rams with the 12th overall pick of the 2001 NFL Draft, Lewis' NFL career got off to a rocky start, when a broken right foot during a nationally-televised mid-November game against the Patriots landed him on injured reserve, ultimately costing him an opportunity to play against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI.

Lewis was a part-time starter during his first five seasons in the league, and signed a short-term (2-years/$3/9M) free agent contract with the Carolina Panthers in 2006. In 2008, Lewis signed a three-year extension worth $14 million dollars with the Panthers.

During his four seasons in Carolina, Lewis started 36 of 62 games, including 31 games over the last two seasons, totaling 129 tackles and 7.5 quarterback sacks. The 6-2, 301-pound former Miami Hurricane has 244 tackles and 22.5 quarterback sacks during his nine-year NFL career.

Lewis, who turned 32 on March 1, had restructured his contract prior to last season and was set to make the league minimum ($755K). That wasn't enough to prevent the Panthers from terminating his contract on March 4.

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