The Lions have agreed to sign defensive lineman Akeem Spence to a three-year, $10.5MM deal, tweets Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Detroit has also inked fellow DL Cornelius Washington, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s a two-year, $6MM deal for Washington, with a max value of $8MM, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Spence, 25, has spent the past four seasons in Tampa Bay after being selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft. He’s started 30 games during that time, but most of those starts came during his rookie campaign. Since then, Spence has become more of a rotational piece. In 2016, Spence appeared in all 16 games, managing 10 tackles and a half sack.
Washington, meanwhile, has been with the Bears for four years. The former sixth-round pick has followed a career path similar to that of Spence, as Washington has mostly served as a depth option in Chicago. Last year, he appeared in 15 games (two starts), and posted 14 tackles and two sacks.