The Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday reeled in Aaron Kampman , who was arguably the biggest fish remaining in the sea of unrestricted free agents after a weekend spending frenzy across the NFL.

Provided he's healthy, Kampman should immediately shore up the Jaguars' anemic pass rush — the team managed a league-worst 14 sacks in 2009, which is actually the fifth-worst total in NFL history.

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Kampman played left defensive end in his first seven years with the Green Bay Packers and did it well. The two-time Pro Bowler (2006, '07) registered 37 of his 54 career sacks between 2006 and 2008 as one of the league's premier pass rushers. Coming off the left side, the relentless Kampman can often overmatch bulkier right tackles who are often not as adroit as protecting quarterbacks as the blindside protecting left tackles.

But Kampman had perhaps his most trying season in 2009. He was converted to an outside linebacker when new coordinator Dom Capers installed a 3-4 defense in Green Bay last year. Kampman seemed uncomfortable with the transition, though he was often lauded by his coaches for his effort and attitude. He only produced 3½ sacks last season but the new system did seem to take hold in Green Bay and the Packers were a more formidable unit, their 51-45 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in the playoffs notwithstanding.

"Obviously I've gotten used to this 3-4," Kampman said earlier this year. "I didn't get a chance to get a full year to critique and say, 'Hey, this is great.' But I was starting to get more comfortable with it. Having said that, I have a lot of experience in the 4-3. I think that I can do both."

However he wasn't present for that wild-card defeat after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament in November, an injury that may keep from being full speed to start 2010, though he's said his rehabilitation schedule is ahead of schedule.

"Things have gone very, very well," Kampman said. "I'm very thankful."

Getting to the quarterback is a premium priority in the AFC South, a division that requires the Jaguars to face Pro Bowlers Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and Matt Schaub of the Houston Texans twice apiece annually. Kampman will also be tasked with burying San Diego's Philip Rivers, Dallas' Tony Romo, the Giants' Eli Manning and Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb in 2010.

The Florida Times-Union reports Kampman received a four-year deal worth $26 million with $11 million guaranteed, nearly the same terms fellow defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch got from the Detroit Lions earlier in the weekend.

The acquisition of Kampman represents a leap of faith for Jacksonville owner Wayne Weaver. He felt burned after committing $66 million to wideout Jerry Porter and cornerback Drayton Florence two years ago. Neither player was productive for the 2008 Jaguars, who plummeted to 5-11 after reaching the playoffs in 2007. The money thrown at Porter and Florence also caused bad feelings in a fractured locker room, and both players were released following the season.

"Obviously, I endorsed them or we wouldn't have done them, so I'm not going to go back and second guess what was done," Weaver said after that season. "We just have to learn from our mistakes and move on."

Obviously Jacksonville is banking that the 6-4, 260-pound Kampman, who will turn 31 in November, is a better investment.

He figures to return to the defensive line for the Jaguars, who alternated between 4-3 and 3-4 looks in 2009, when they started 6-4 but stumbled down the stretch to a disappointing 7-9 finish.

Jacksonville drafted pass rushers Derrick Harvey (8th overall) and Quentin Groves (52nd) overall in the 2008 draft, but neither has lived up to advance billing. The duo has combined for eight sacks over two seasons, clearly not what the team envisioned when investing such high draft picks.

Kampman was a fifth-round pick out of Iowa in 2002. He is the most famous NFL player to hail from the Aplington-Parkersburg (Iowa) High School program run by famed coach Ed Thomas, who was murdered by one of his former players last June.

The move is the biggest signing of the offseason for the Jaguars. They landed Kassim Osgood, a noted special teamer for the San Diego Chargers, to a three-year, $6.6 million deal Saturday with the proviso he will get the chance to earn playing time at wideout. Given last month's release of veteran Torry Holt after one season, there should be opportunities available for Osgood.

The team has also quietly kept some of its own players, re-signing receiver Troy Williamson, tight end Ernest Wilford, guard Kynan Forney and defensive lineman Atiyyah Ellison before free agency opened league-wide Friday.

After winning a coin flip with the Denver Broncos at the scouting combine, the Jaguars will pick 10th in the first round of the 2010 draft.