Category: Lions News

Several Lions earned roster bonuses and guarantees on Friday

Several Lions earned roster bonuses and guarantees on Friday, the third day of the NFL league year for 2020

Friday, March 20th marked the third day of the 2020 NFL league year. That’s an important date for contractual purposes for many players, including some Detroit Lions.

Many NFL contracts are structured so roster bonuses get paid and guaranteed on the third day of the league year. It’s also when contracts also get guaranteed for the next year in some cases. The Lions who got some roster bonus money on Friday include:

DE Trey Flowers: $10 million of his $14.5 million base salary in 2020 is now guaranteed.

TE T.J. Hockenson: $810,965 roster bonus.

DE Romeo Okwara: $150,000 roster bonus.

CB Justin Coleman: $1.9 million of his $6.95 million salary for 2020 is guaranteed.

PK Matt Prater: $200,000 roster bonus.

Darius Slay happy he ‘don’t have to deal with’ Matt Patricia anymore

Darius Slay happy he ‘don’t have to deal with’ Matt Patricia anymore in a scathing interview with The Mitch Albom Show on WJR in Detroit

Darius Slay joined the Mitch Albom Show on WJR in Detroit on Thursday, hours after his trade from the Detroit Lions to the Philadelphia Eagles. Slay had nothing but positive things to say about the city of Detroit and the Lions fans.

About Matt Patricia, however…

Slay unloaded with several scathing criticisms of his former coach.

“Of course I wanted to stay (in Detroit) for a minute, but I already knew how me and Matt Patricia is, that wasn’t going to last long,” Slay said, referring to his old coach with contempt clear in his voice.

He then brought up Patricia telling him he wasn’t an elite player and didn’t deserve to be training with elite players like Richard Sherman and Aqib Talib in the offseason.

Slay’s take on that?

“That’s the whole point, I didn’t get the thought, sitting here telling me not to go work with somebody, I’m not elite,” Slay continued. “If I ain’t elite in your eyes, at least I’m trying to go compete with guys and work with guys, pick their brains and become elite.”

Later in the interview, Albom asked Slay if he had anything to say to Patricia. Slay opted for diplomacy and took about the highest road he could.

“I wouldn’t say nothing, I’d just go about my day,” he said. “Honestly, I wouldn’t probably feel nothing inside. I live my life, he lives his. I just don’t have to deal with him.”

The full interview, broken into four segments, is available via the Mitch Albom Show Twitter feed.

Report: Lions agree to term with S Jayron Kearse on 1-year deal

NFL Network’s Tom Pelisero is reporting that the Detroit Lions have agreed to terms with safety Jayron Kearse on a 1-year deal.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero is reporting that the Detroit Lions have agreed to terms with safety Jayron Kearse on a 1-year deal. Pelissero notes the deal is worth $2.75 million, but official numbers have yet to be released.

Kearse was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 2016 Draft and was someone general manager Bob Quinn showed interest in — the Lions had formal meetings with Kearse at the Combine and Clemson Pro Day.

A four-year contributor for the Vikings as a standout special teams player,  Kearse (6-4, 215) expanded his duties over the past two seasons, seeing just over 250 snaps on defense as a third safety and situational 43 WILL linebacker. Kearse has a chance to take over the vacated Miles Killebrew role with the Lions.

Kearse immediately becomes a special teams starter in all four-phases but he is an ascending player on defense and will offer the Lions options as a fourth safety — potentially challenging Will Harris for playing time — and is capable of starting in the old Tavon Wilson role if in case of injury.

Danny Shelton: What the Lions are getting in their new DT

Danny Shelton: What the Lions are getting in their new DT

Danny Shelton is an easy guy to spot. The new Detroit Lions defensive tackle weighs 340 or so pounds and sports long black hair and distinctive tattoos up and down both arms.

He also happens to be a pretty darn good football player, and the Lions are a better team for adding him as a free agent this week. The five-year veteran instantly bolsters the interior defensive line.

What exactly are the Lions getting in Shelton?

He spent his first three seasons in Cleveland as a first-round pick out of Washington in 2015. In college, he was a versatile nose tackle with a good sense for the ball and an Academic All-American.

For the Browns, expectations were too high based on his draft status. He was a good-not-great contributor on some bad Browns teams. First-round status implies pass rush, fair or not, and that’s not Shelton’s game. He managed just 1.5 sacks among his 11 TFLs in three years before the Browns traded him to New England.

Note the timeline. Shelton did not join the Patriots until March of 2018. That’s two months after Matt Patricia left to coach the Lions. While Patricia and his Lions staff are certainly familiar with his role(s) in New England, they have no real ties to Shelton or history with him.

I say roles in New England, because Shelton’s changed from 2018 to 2019. His first year in Foxboro was a continuation of his Cleveland career, a very good interior run defender with gap integrity and a good nose for the ball but almost no penetration or upfield surge. That changed in 2019.

New England started shading him over a guard or tilting him from being heads-up on the center more. It played to his quick burst and let him get a little more space to operate. He responded by making more plays in the backfield, getting a career-high three sacks and more pressures. It’s akin the jump Damon Harrison made when he joined the Lions in the middle of the 2018 season.

Shelton’s trademark run defense did suffer a bit as a result. Increasing his range led to more opportunities to miss. He’s still a very sure, powerful tackler, but he was more vulnerable to cut and wham blocks in the run game.

Shelton is a quality replacement on the nose for Harrison. If the Lions move to a more traditional 4-man front, and that appears to be the case based on their offseason moves, Shelton will play the 1-tech and play a lot. If he’s more of a 0-tech in an odd front, he won’t make as many noteworthy plays but also won’t be noted missing as many chances, either.

Darius Slay throws gasoline on the trade sparks with the Lions

Darius Slay throws gasoline on the trade sparks with the Lions

Darius Slay has been fairly diplomatic about his status with the Detroit Lions. The Pro Bowl cornerback ended the playing nice on Wednesday night.

He wants out of Detroit and doesn’t care who knows about it.

That’s the only reasonable conclusion after Slay’s posts on Twitter in reaction to the Lions signing Desmond Trufant. In two separate posts, Slay pulls no punches. He asks for the Lions to hurry up and trade him.

The Pro Bowl cornerback has desired a new contract dating back to last offseason, but the Lions have held firm on making him honor the final years of his 4-yer, $48 million contract.

That appears to be up in flames now…

There’s not much grey area there. Slay wants out so he can get paid somewhere else.

Report: Lions agree to terms with CB Desmond Trufant on 2-year deal

Multiple sources are reporting that the Detroit Lions have come to an agreement with cornerback Desmond Trufant on a 2-year deal.

Multiple sources are reporting that the Detroit Lions have come to an agreement with former Atlanta Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant.

The deal was first announced by ESPN Analyst Jordan Schultz, who also included the terms of the deal — 2-years worth $21 million, with $14 million guaranteed.

The former first-round pick in 2013 — now 29-years old — was coming off a four-interception season before he went down with a broken forearm in Week 14. After spending his entire career with the Falcons, they released him in a  cost-cutting move just two days ago.

At 6-0, 190 pounds, with 4.38-second speed, and an impressive 6.67second 3-cone drill time, Trufant checks off all the athletic boxes the Lions’ desire in their cornerbacks.

Over his seven years in the NFL, his overall Pro Football grades ranged from 69.5 to 82.8, with his coverage grade landing between 65 and 82.5, all above average scores.

Pairing Trufant and Darius Slay together would give the Lions a formidable tandem at outside corner, but there is a real possibility this makes a Slay trade a potential reality. We will have to wait and see.

Lions tender Mike Ford, elect to not offer RFA’s J.D. McKissic and Jamie Meder

The Detroit Lions have tendered exclusive right free agent Mike Ford and elected not to offer restricted free agent contracts to J.D. McKissic and Jamie Meder making them unrestricted free agents.

The Detroit Lions have tendered exclusive right free agent corner Mike Ford and elected not to offer restricted free agent contracts to running back J.D. McKissic and defensive lineman Jamie Meder, making them unrestricted free agents.

In addition to Ford, it was already announced that the Lions were also picking up the tender on corner/gunner Dee Virgin, who was also an exclusive rights free agent.

Both Ford and Virgin played key roles on special teams, rotating with undrafted rookie safety C.J. Moore as the primary gunners on special teams. Ford also held down a key reserve role at cornerback and stepped up when his number was called against the Chiefs.

As a tendered exclusive right free agents, Ford and Virgin can only accept a new contract from the Lions, unless the team chooses to release them. And because the Lions hold all the leverage in this negotiation, they will likely only offer them a league minimum contract with no guaranteed money.

The Lions claimed McKissic off of waivers on cut day last September and he played an important role on offense as a change-of-pace/gadget back. The Lions are interested in bringing him back but not at the restricted free agent tender level, which was roughly $2.1 million.

Meder was a late-season addition to an injury-depleted roster and he isn’t expected back at this time.

Devon Kennard will reportedly sign with the Cardinals

Multiple sources are reporting that Devon Kennard will sign a contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

After being released from the Detroit Lions less than 24-hours ago, multiple sources are reporting that Devon Kennard is returning to his home of Tempe, Arizona to join the Cardinals.

Despite being a team captain and recording back-to-back seven sack seasons (both career-highs) the Lions made the decision to move on after adding Jamie Collins to their linebacker core.

Kennard, who is one of the highest character players in the league, left a very heartfelt and classy goodbye message on social media:

“My goal in life is to always leave a place better then I found it. I believe I did that in Detroit with the (Lions). Thank you to my teammates, coaches, the support staff and fans that made my experience in Detroit one that I will cherish forever.”

The Lions will face the Cardinals in Arizona during the 2020 season, which will surely be a date circled on Kennard’s calendar.

We at Lions Wire wish Kennard the best of luck in Arizona.

How adding NT Danny Shelton impacts the Lions roster

Examining how agreeing to terms with nose tackle Danny Shelton impacts the Detroit Lions roster.

The 2020 official free agency period is ready to begin but the Detroit Lions have already agreed to terms with several players, including defensive tackle Danny Shelton.

Shelton, a former 12th overall pick in 2015 by the Cleveland Browns, played in New England the last two seasons where he was their starting nose tackle. He is expected to take on the same role in Detroit, replacing Damon Harrison.

With two years and 32 games worth of experience in a near-exact version of the Lions scheme, Shelton (6-2, 345) should be able to step right into the starting nose tackle role without missing a beat.

John Atkins has been the Lions top reserve at nose tackle the last two seasons and is expected to maintain that role in 2020. Olive Sagapolu is an upside nose tackle who signed a futures deal with the Lions in January but isn’t expected to do more than compete for a reserve role at this time.

[lawrence-related id=40047,40024]

Lining up at the defensive tackle spot next to Shelton will be a rotation of Da’Shawn Hand, newly acquired Nick Williams, Kevin Strong, and potentially Frank Herron. Hand, Williams, and Strong are all signed through 2021, while Herron is in a contract year.

Will the Lions add more defensive tackles?

It’s fair to say the Lions have five defensive tackles they are comfortable entering the season with — Sheldon, Hand, Williams, Atkins, and Strong — but that does not mean they are done adding at the position.

It’s possible that the Lions wait for the prices to drop in free agency and acquire another veteran to help bring stability to the younger front. Re-signing Mike Daniels is surely being considered, but if free agents like Marcell Dareus, Dontari Poe, Michael Pierce, or Shelby Harris are still around in a few days they may get a phone call from the Lions.

The draft is also another area that can’t be ruled out for adding players. Derrick Brown’s value to the Lions probably took a hit today, but nose tackles with range, like Davon Hamilton (Ohio State) and Leki Fotu (Utah), are prospects the Lions could look to draft and develop.

Report: Lions trading for Patriots Safety Duron Harmon, swapping late-round picks

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Detroit Lions are trading for New England Patriots safety Duron Harmon.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Detroit Lions are trading for New England Patriots safety Duron Harmon.

Immediate details of the trade compensation are not available but Rapoport is reporting that it is a mear exchange of late-round picks. Harmon is in the final year of his contract and will cost the Lions $4.25 million against the cap.

Harmon is capable of playing single-high safety and over the slot giving the Lions much-needed depth at a position of need. He will likely be a heavy contributor at the single-high position, due to his deep coverage range and ball-hawking skills.

His multiple years of scheme familiarity make him an instant impact player who is capable of starting the moment he sets foot in Allen Park.

Harmon is a terrific complement to the Lions Tracy Walker and Will Harris, who are both capable of playing at single-high, but their skill sets are more impactful in the box. This will allow a lot more movement and interchangeability from the Lions safeties than we have seen in the past two seasons.