The Detroit Lions are keeping another young defender in the den. Detroit has re-signed linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin to a one-year deal.
Reeves-Maybin was set to become an unrestricted free agent, but the Lions struck the deal before Wednesday’s deadline. The team will pay Reeves-Maybin, now 26, a fully guaranteed $2,378,490 for the 2021 season.
The team’s fourth-round pick in 2017 out of Tennessee, Reeves-Maybin has primarily played on special teams and in sub-packages on defense in his four seasons in Detroit. He played just 38 defensive snaps in 16 games last season.
However, he has some speed–and that’s something more valuable to the new Dan Campbell regime than the deposed Matt Patricia staff that favored strength and size at off-ball LB over speed.