Danny Watkins wasn’t out of work for long.
Three days after being cut by the NFL’s Philadephia Eagles, the 6-foot-3, 310-pound West Kelowna native has signed a one-year contract Tuesday with the Miami Dolphins.
“He has a lot of football left in him,” Joe Panos, Watkins’ agent, told ESPN.com on Tuesday morning. “The best thing to happen to him is to get out of Philadelphia. He needs a fresh start and the Dolphins realize that.”
Watkins was preparing for his third NFL season in Philadelphia when the Eagles cut him loose on Saturday.
Drafted 23rd overall in the first round of the 2011 draft, Watkins started 18 games on the offensive line over his first two seasons but was unable to secure a permanent role with the Eagles.
Watkins’ CFL rights are owned by the B.C. Lions who selected him fourth overall in the 2011 draft.
The Mt. Boucherie grad, who never played football until he was 22, attended training camp with the Okanagan Sun in 2006 but an injury prevented him from playing in any games in the B.C. Football Conference.
He later went on to play two seasons at Butte College in California where he was enrolled in the Fire Academy program.
Watkins then starred two seasons at Baylor University in Waco, Texas where he gained attention as one of the country’s top offensive lineman.
