SAN FRANCISCO—Free agent defensive end Darnell Dockett has inked a contract with the San Francisco 49ers.
The signing came shortly after Dockett’s 11-year run with the Arizona Cardinals came to and end, a tenure in which the lineman served as a key cog in the gradual turnaround of a Cardinals franchise once toiling in mediocrity.
Dockett was released by Arizona after the two parties failed to agree to terms of a pay cut. The veteran was scheduled to be paid $6.8 million in 2015, a number Arizona considered prohibitively high for a veteran player in the latter stages of his career.
Instead, Dockett joins the rival 49ers and head coach Jim Tomsula, where he is expected to play an important role on a defense that was among the NFL’s best in 2014.
![Darnell Dockett](http://www.thesfnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/image19.jpg)
Dockett, who missed all of the 2014 season after tearing his ACL, had previously only missed two games in the entirety of his career. If his knee can make a full recovery, Dockett will be expected to bolster a San Francisco front that may be without veteran stalwart Justin Smith, who has reportedly been mulling retirement.
Dockett’s two-year, $7.5 million contract includes $2 million in guaranteed money and a base-salary of $4 million in 2015.