Two days after trading away a safety, the Lions have signed one.
Free agent safety Marcus Gilchrist has signed with Detroit.
Gilchrist started all 16 games for the Raiders last year, but this year he hasn’t received much attention. He had workouts with the Colts and Buccaneers but hasn’t spent any time on an NFL roster.
The Lions are adding a safety after trading away Quandre Diggs to Seattle. That was an unpopular move in the Lions’ locker room, where Diggs was voted a team captain this season. It was also a head-scratcher for the Lions, given that just 13 months ago they signed Diggs to a three-year contract extension and had already paid him $6.6 million in bonuses on that new contract. The late-round pick they got from the Seahawks wasn’t much of a return on their investment in Diggs.
But perhaps they’ll find that Gilchrist can make a comparable contribution to the defense, at a cheaper price.
