The Detroit Lions place a high emphasis on fit, with familiarity being a factor, therefore these three former Lions might be re-signed in free agency this offseason.
The Detroit Lions place a high importance on culture fit, equaling or exceeding a player’s talent. If someone is not regarded an ideal fit by general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell, they will not be drafted or signed. It truly is that simple, and any idea of position value or big roster necessity will be pushed aside.
As Holmes stated during his season-ending press conference, finding the most skilled player is simple and a “prerequisite of evaluation” in the draft. That surely applies to free agency, even though Holmes makes no special mention of it in this case.
“We have to get past just looking for the most talented player,” Holmes went on to say. “In my opinion, that’s the prerequisite of evaluation.”That is what I am saying regarding the 2021 draft class. It was really strategic to select those men with the intangibles. It’s not like, ‘Oh, we’ll take a wide receiver in the fourth round. No, we wanted Amon-Ra St Brown. He had the intangibles we were searching for to lay the groundwork.”
In free agency, the Lions prioritized maintaining their own players. Some prominent outside acquisitions were made last summer, but they were judged solid all-around fits and performed well on the field. Graham Glasgow and Jaylen Reeves-Maybin, two of the outside additions, have previously played for the Lions.
Reeves-Maybin played for this regime in 2021 before signing with the Houston Texans in 2022. Glasgow was drafted by the previous regime in 2016, but left to sign with the Denver Broncos in 2020.
It’s possible that some other former Lions will be looking to return to free agency this summer following a hiatus. It isn’t a long list of feasible choices, but these three former Lions could be brought back if the circumstances warrant it.
