The Detroit Lions have had a busy start to free agency, agreeing to terms with eight free agents and trading for New England safety Duron Harmon, which the team announced Wednesday night.
Here's a look at Detroit's newest players:
Linebacker Jamie Collins
Head coach Matt Patricia and the Lions have called on a familiar face to help shore up the league's 31st-ranked defense from a year ago, by bringing in the former Patriots linebacker.
Collins, who reunites with his former defensive coordinator (2013-16), can play any linebacker position, and knows Patricia's defense well. At least initially, he seems like a good candidate to fill Devon Kennard's outside linebacker role after Kennard was released Monday.
According to NextGen stats, Collins was one of four players with at least 20 percent of snaps aligned at edge rusher, defensive tackle and linebacker last season. It just shows what kind of versatility the Lions are getting in Collins. The three other players were Dont'a Hightower (New England), Lorenzo Alexander (Buffalo) and Sam Eguavoen (Miami).
Collins, 30, started 15 games and played 81 percent of the snaps for New England's top-ranked defense last season. He set a career-high with seven sacks to go along with 81 tackles, 21 quarterback hurries, 10 tackles for loss and three interceptions.
Cornerback Desmond Trufant
Trufant, 29, recorded a team-high four interceptions for Atlanta last season, despite missing seven games with a shoulder injury. He's started all 97 games he's played over the last seven seasons and has defended 79 passes with 13 career interceptions.
Trufant helps fill a need at cornerback, but the Lions could still sign help for the position in free agency or find it in next month's NFL Draft.
Offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai
Vaitai, 26, a former fifth-round pick out of TCU in 2016, took over as the Eagles' starting left tackle following a season-ending injury to Jason Peters in 2017, and played a role on Philadelphia's Super Bowl LII-winning offensive line. He's played left and right tackle.
He'll likely compete with Tyrell Crosby for the Lions' open right tackle spot after the team released veteran Rick Wagner last week. Vaitai started three games last year at right tackle during the regular season and at left tackle for Philadelphia's playoff game. He's played in 55 career games with 20 starts.
He was among 22 tackles last year that finished the season with an overall positive grade from Pro Football Focus. He was graded sixth among all tackles as a run blocker.
Defensive tackle Nick Williams
Williams, 30, was a part-time starter for the Bears last season after spending time with Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Miami. He had a career-high six sacks last season – the first six of his career – including one against the Lions.
Williams also recorded 42 tackles and had nine quarterback hits last season in his best year as a pro.
Defensive tackle Danny Shelton
A big run-stuffing nose tackle, Shelton, 26, recorded career highs last season in tackles (61), quarterback hits (6) and sacks (3.0).
He joins Williams as new faces along the interior of Detroit's defensive line.
Shelton, the 12th overall pick by Cleveland in the 2015 draft, spent the last two years in New England and is coming off the best season of his career where he was a plus-player both as a run stuffer and overall by Pro Football Focus grading.
The Lions have to get more production out of the interior of the defensive line in 2020. Shelton could help with that.
Quarterback Chase Daniel
Daniel went 1-2 as a starter with Chicago the last two seasons, the one victory coming against the Lions on Thanksgiving Day in 2018. He threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns while completing 73 percent of his passes in that victory.
Detroit went 0-8 last season after starter Matthew Stafford missed the second half of the season with a back injury. Jeff Driskel (0-3) and David Blough (0-5) started in Stafford's place.
Over his 10-year career, Daniel has completed 149 of 218 passes for 1,430 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions, and is 2-3 as a starter.
Stafford is expected to be 100 percent healthy whenever the Lions begin their offseason training program, but Daniel gives them some stability behind Stafford.
Safety Jayron Kearse
Kearse was a part-time player on defense and core special teams player for the Vikings last season, and could have a similar role with the Lions in 2020. Along with Harmon, the Lions return starter Tracy Walker and Will Harris at safety.
Kearse has played in 62 games with five starts in four seasons in Minnesota with 79 tackles. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Kearse is a physical presence, and should be a terrific addition right away to Detroit's special teams units.
Cornerback Tony McRae
It's a safe bet Lions general manager Bob Quinn consulted new special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs before working out a deal with Bengals cornerback Tony McRae.
McRae spent the last three seasons as a key player on the Bengals' special teams unit, where Coombs served as the assistant special teams coordinator. Last season, McRae led the Bengals in special teams tackles on a unit that was one of the best in football.
McRae played in 16 games for the Bengals last season with two starts and recorded 22 tackles. He's played in 37 career games with three starts in three seasons in Cincinnati and one in Baltimore.
