6 free agent safeties the Detroit Lions should have on their radar

6. Marcus Maye

Injuries and a suspension have limited Maye to 23 games over the last three seasons. He finished last season on IR with a shoulder injury, which helped make him an easy cap casualty for the Saints in their annual effort to get cap-compliant. But in the seven games he played last year, he had two interceptions and a 67.9 passer rating allowed.

The "when healthy" caveat has to be be attached to Maye, and it's the No. 1 reason he's available as OTAs start to get rolling around the league. But he has proven to be a capable every-down player "when healthy", and if the Lions wanted to kick the proverbial tires here it wouldn't be outlandish.

5. Duron Harmon

We've beaten the Harmon drum before, so let's do it again. He was part of Matt Patricia's attempt to bring the "Patriot Way" to Detroit, spending one season (2020) with the Lions after seven in New England. He started 16 games and played over 1,100 defensive snaps in that lone season as a Lion, then he played all 17 games and played over 1,000 defensive snaps in 2021 with the Atlanta Falcons and 2022 with the Las Vegas Raiders. In 2022, he earned a top-12 coverage grade (77.6) among qualified safeties from Pro Football Focus.

Harmon had, let's call it a well-traveled, 2023 season. He went from the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad to the Chicago Bears' active roster and finally to the Cleveland Browns to end the season. He played in a total of seven games and 291 defensive snaps.

At 33 years old, Harmon's best days are behind him. But it's hard to imagine the form he showed two seasons ago (86 total tackles, etc.) has completely evaporated. Maybe he can't/shouldn't play 1,000 defensive snaps, but if he came back to the Lions he wouldn't have to.