Photo Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

The news that the Detroit Lions had re-signed safety Louis Delmas was widely regarded as a good thing by most fans. However, the two-year, $9.465 million contract was a bit bigger than I had been expecting give the fact that Delmas hasn’t been able to play in all 16 games in any of his four NFL seasons.

It’s not that the contract was totally out of whack, it’s just that the Lions can’t count on Delmas to be healthy. As it turns out, they aren’t necessarily counting on him to be healthy. Signing Glover Quin is one indication with another being the way the Lions have constructed the new Delmas deal:

Also, Lions have lots of injury protection in Lou Delmas’ new contract. He got $1M signing bonus and a $715k base w/$1.75M in PT incentives

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 20, 2013

According to Delmas’ new deal, if he has 42% PT this year he gets $109k for every game he’s on 46-man roster.

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 20, 2013

That’s more like it. But there is one more detail that I find even more interesting:

Next year, he’s due a $5.5M base salary with a $500k roster bonus

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 20, 2013

This one has me saying “hmm” and looking at the contract as more of a one-year deal with a team option. With over half of the contract’s money due as salary in 2014, the Lions put themselves in a near no-lose situation.

Think about it. If Delmas can’t stay healthy in 2013 the Lions won’t have to pay out the playing time incentive and can move on from Delmas with little to no impact on the 2014 salary cap. If Delmas does stay healthy, the Lions will happily pay the 2013 incentives and a 2014 salary that is reasonable for a player like Delmas.

The Detroit Lions have re-signed Louis Delmas to a two-year contract. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Louis Delmas had a contract offer on the table from the Detroit Lions as he embarked on a free agency tour with stops in St. Louis and San Francisco. Apparently the deal he wanted, or at least thought was out there, wasn’t and he has decided to stay with the Lions.

For real (with no fake agency and his name spelled right): Louis Delmas is headed to the Lions, source confirms (@profootballtalk was first)

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 15, 2013

For a while it looked like Delmas would be moving on. The Lions signed Glover Quin and while that shouldn’t have precluded the Lions from re-upping with Delmas, it made retaining him less of a priority. Then a tweet came out from an agency that Delmas had signed with the 49ers. Just on problem – the tweet wasn’t from the firm that actually represents Delmas and his first name was spelled “Luis”. The contents of that tweet were quickly refuted (shocking!) and Delmas remained in play for the Lions.

Financial terms were not immediately available but the value of the contract was very likely suppressed by concerns over the ability of Delmas to stay healthy. Now four years in to his NFL career, Delmas has yet to play all 16 games in a season and his games played numbers are trending in the wrong direction.

The Lions now look a whole lot better at safety than they did a week ago. Quin and Delmas (when healthy) give the Lions a nice pair of safeties with Amari Spievey (also when healthy) and Don Carey providing depth. The Lions have improved while also adding depth to assure that we don’t see John Wendling play on defense in 2013.

[UPDATE: The financials are in and the deal is worth 9.465 million according to Pro Football Talk. It is more than I was expecting but Delmas could prove worthy if healthy.]

Dec. 16, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA: Detroit Lions safety Louis Delmas (26) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Lions 38-10. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Detroit Lions fans holding out hope that free agent safety Louis Delmas will re-sign with the team got some good news tonight.

Rams made a contract offer to Detroit safety Louis Delmas, but he has left town for visit to San Francisco.

— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) March 14, 2013

While it is nearly impossible to tell what exactly is going on during the free agency process with all the posturing that goes on from teams and player alike, the fact that Delmas left St. Louis without a deal spells trouble for the Rams. Lions fans got a firsthand example of what can happen when a team really wants to add a player when Jason Jones, Glover Quin and Reggie Bush all visited the Lions training facility and didn’t leave until a deal was done. The Rams apparently don’t feel as strongly about Delmas, who will now check out what the San Francisco 49ers have to offer.

Delmas also reportedly had an offer from the Lions on the table before unrestricted free agency officially opened on Tuesday but he has chosen to test the waters just the same. Delmas indicated a desire to returns to the Lions when speaking to the Detroit Free Press last week and the news that Delmas is leaving St. Louis without agreeing to a deal suggest he isn’t seeing the contract he wants in order to make a change of address.

Of course, it could be that Delmas just wants to give all interested parties a chance to make their pitch before making a decision. Whatever the case, the longer the process drags out the more likely it would seem that Delmas could return to Detroit. The big money deals are always the first to get done and with day two of the free agency period drawing to a close and Delmas leaving one city for another, there isn’t any reason to believe one team’s offer is significantly better than another.

Where the Lions fit into that battle remains to be seen. For now, all we know is that they aren’t out of it yet.