Former Lion Trey Flowers lands back in the AFC East

Former Lion Trey Flowers lingered available longer than he probably should have, but he is headed back to the AFC East.

Former Lions defensive end Trey Flowers had back-to-back injury impacted seasons, which made it an obvious move for them to let him. They did so right away in March, but Flowers remained available as the final week of preseason games approached.

Flowers surfaced as a possible signing for a few teams over the offseason, but it became telling that a reunion with the New England Patriots did not appear anywhere on the radar.

Flowers had his first known free agent visit this past week, with the Miami Dolphins. On Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Flowers and the Dolphins have agreed to a deal.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, it’s a one-year deal with a base value of $2.1 million and Flowers can get up to $3 million with incentives.

Former Lion Trey Flowers headed back to the AFC East

As alluded to previously, Flowers spent his first four NFL seasons with the Patriots before landing a big free agent deal with the Lions. He won two Super Bowls during that time.

In four straight seasons (2016-2019), including his first year in Detroit, Flowers had at least 6.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss with at least 20 quarterback hits in the last three of those campaigns.

The Dolphins, with Emmanuel Ogbah, Jaelan Phillips, Andrew Van Ginkel and earlier free agent addition Melvin Ingram, already had a solid-looking group of edge rushers. Flowers now lands in the rotation and should not have a great learning curve with Miami’s defensive scheme, with former Patriots assistant Josh Boyer remaining as the defensive coordinator under new head coach Mike McDaniel.

Flowers was going to have to take a prove-it deal wherever he landed this offseason, whenever he landed there. He seems to have found an idea fit with the Dolphins.