New head coach and former Patriot Matt Patricia may look to his past to find the final piece needed for the Detroit Lions’ secondary.
As the Detroit Lions establish a game plan to add the pieces needed to be contenders and not pretenders, one of those needs may lead both general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia back to New England.
This past season the Lions played unexpectedly well in the secondary. Considering they were not the beneficiaries of a dominant or even consistent pass-rush, that was a pretty good surprise.
Corner back Darius Slay earned his first Pro Bowl nod with a really good season that also included leading the NFL with eight interceptions. Safety Glover Quin was, well… Glover Quin. His level of excellence has been on display since he arrived as a free agent from the Houston Texans. On the other side, corner backs Nevin Lawson and D.J. Hayden were platooned for the majority of the year with mixed degrees of success.
Then there was the free safety position. Tavon Wilson‘s play was fairly solidly until an injury ended his season. That was when the Lions moved Quandre Diggs from nickel back to free safety.
That was also, by coincidence or not, when the Lions secondary played their best. Diggs played the position like he had always been there and consistently set the defensive tone with bone-jarring hits and timely interceptions. After watching the films it should be a no-brainer for Patricia to keep Diggs back there as a play-making safety.
Now Lawson and Hayden are both free agents which may or may not leave an opening at corner back. It is considered doubtful that Bob Quinn will re-sign both, if either. Last years second round pick Teez Tabor from Florida played only sparingly in the second half of the season and no one knows for sure what Patricia will be able to coax out of him.
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This leaves the option of acquiring another corner back in free agency or the draft. The answer may be only a glance over Patricia’s shoulder away.
Patriots corner back Malcolm Butler has hit free agency and it seems like he won’t be looking back. After his benching in Super Bowl LII, Butler basically said the Patriots had given up on him and sounded like he was more than ready to cut ties with New England.
Butler’s benching in the Super Bowl hasn’t been verified, but certainly sounds like it was a Bill Belichick move. A move that may have cost the Patriots a title.
I’ve seen many prognosticators listing off different teams they consider to be logical landing spots for Butler. It’s ironic that no one seems to have even considered Detroit as a possibility.
Now Butler did have a down year last season, but he’s still only 27-years old and under the watchful eye of Matt Patricia in New England he went from Western Alabama to Super Bowl XLIX hero and all-pro corner back. Despite this past season they have made a good combination.
I’m sure that there will be plenty of teams calling Butler to discuss his services, but one would have to believe that a call from Matt Patricia would weigh a little more. Butler and Patricia have an outstanding relationship and that may be the key to landing him.
At one point this past season Butler revealed the story of Patricia asking Butler if he knew that Patricia loved him. He said he knew Patricia was telling the truth because he loves Patricia too.
The Lions secondary could use another upper tier cornerback to turn them into one of the better units in the league and Butler could be that player. Despite what the prognosticators think, if these two believe in each other and genuinely feel deep respect and admiration for each other, then the Lions would be a match made in heaven for Butler.
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Will the Detroit Lions pursue Malcolm Butler? Only time will tell, but if Matt Patricia makes the call, then Detroit may very well benefit from Bill Belichick’s mistake.