It might have been the shortest stay ever in the unemployment line.

Released by the Miami Dolphins on Thursday at 4 p.m., veteran defensive tackle Tim Bowens reached an agreement to re-sign with the only franchise for which he's ever played only two hours later.

Bowens, 29, will sign a five-year, $15.15 million contract Friday, and the new deal includes a signing bonus of $3 million. The base salaries for the first two seasons are $650,000 (for 2002) and $850,000 (2003). The Dolphins must pay Bowens a $1.8 million option at the conclusion of the '03 campaign, and the bases for the final three seasons are $2.25 million (2004), $3.1 million (2005) and $3.5 million (2006).

"We made some fast decisions here, obviously, and determined this was probably what kind of market Tim would have elsewhere," agent Drew Rosenhaus said. "His priority was to remain in Miami, if he could, and he's happy about being able to stay."

Keeping the eight-year veteran is a coup of sorts for the Dolphins, because it keeps intact the club's mammoth interior tandem of Bowens and Daryl Gardener, who is coming off back surgery but is making solid progress in his rehabilitation. Bowens and Gardener typically control the inside of the line and the Miami defense, one of the quickest in the league, all revolved from their strength.

The team's first-round choice in the 1994 draft, Bowens was to have earned a base salary of $7 million in 2002 and was due a $1 million roster bonus Friday. Instead of a salary cap value of $8.75 million for 2002 under the old contract, the new deal has a cap charge of just $1.2 million. The Dolphins still must carry a cap charge of $750,000 from the prior contract, so essentially they will count $1.95 million for Bowens against their cap.

The maneuver, though, created an additional $6.8 million in cap room for the Dolphins, who are expected to be one of the few teams seeking to complete early free agent signings.

Bowens started 15 games in 2001 and had 47 tackles and 2½ sacks. For his career, he has played in 126 games and started 124 of them. He has 340 tackles, 19½ sacks, six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, one interception and 20 pass deflections.

The former Mississippi standout restructured his contract each of the last two years to help the Dolphins address cap concerns.

Said Rosenhaus: "Basically, we were going year to year, because we always had to revisit his deal. This contract addresses the needs of both sides for the long-term."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.