The Detroit Lions are re-signing some of their own before free agency starts, and another was added to the list on Saturday. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Lions have re-signed edge rusher Marcus Davenport to a one-year deal worth "up to" $4.75 million.
Source: The #Lions are bringing back edge rusher Marcus Davenport on a 1-year deal worth up to $4.75M. After injuries robbed him of most of last year, Detroit takes another shot to run it back. pic.twitter.com/z27MAxNb6Y
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2025
The Lions signed Davenport to a one-year deal last offseason. He looked good in the season opener, with six pressures (according to Pro Football Focus) and half a sack. Then he missed Week 2 with a groin injury. In Week 3 he suffered an arm injury, however randomly via a dirty move by Cardinals offensive tackle Paris Johnson, and he missed the rest of the season.
The previous season with the Minnesota Vikings, Davenport played just four games due to an ankle injury. He has played more than 500 defensive snaps in a season just once in his career since the New Orleans Saints drafted him in 2018.
Lions take unnecessary flier on Marcus Davenport
Starting his career with the Saints of course means Davenport overlapped with Dan Campbell (and former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) for three seasons in New Orleans. He played one full game for the Lions last season before missing a game, then his injury in Week 3 came. Yes, that tricep injury was kind of a fluke and a dirty play by an opponent, but "hurt guys stay hurt".
Not only has Davenport struggled to stay on the field, there were questions about his desire to get back on the field for the Vikings in 2023. He was not thought to have a season-ending ankle injury, but he was done after Week 6 that season.
Davenport (6-foot-6, 285 pounds) fits the physical profile the Lions want in edge players, and Glenn highlighted how his physical playing style was ideal opposite Aidan Hutchinson.
The Lions aren't afraid to take chances on players who carry injury risk, or take a second flier on a guy (see Emmanuel Moseley). Davenport's new deal is surely loaded with incentives lifting it "up to" $4.75 million, and he won't be the only move to add an edge rusher. It would just be nice if there was a little more imagination than simply re-signing a guy who barely played for them last season, two days before the legal tampering period of free agency opens.