The Detroit Lions were ahead of the game this offseason when it came to preparing for the coronavirus pandemic.
Detroit nabbed three players that spent the 2019 season on the New England Patriots’ roster. With Lions head coach and former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia running the show, there was no mystery in the team signing these players. Jamie Collins, Danny Shelton and Duron Harmon will all play under Patricia in 2020.
But, was it intentional to grab players from New England?
Lions general manager Bob Quinn said the move was intentional, and it came from an intuitive approach. Quinn saw an unorthodox offseason coming and knew that the Lions wanted players who knew the system to an extent. All three of the aformentioned players spent time under Patricia’s command.
Bob Quinn said Lions added a player familiar with the defensive scheme at each level by design (Harmon, Collins, Shelton) when it was clear there was a threat of a truncated offseason.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) August 31, 2020
The Lions already have Trey Flowers, Danny Amendola and Justin Coleman — who have spent time with the three new players in New England. Detroit has a defense that’s loaded with former Patriots — will it be effective without Bill Belichick at the top? Time will tell on that.
