The Lions met with free agent tight end Levine Toilolo on Tuesday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Detroit released starting tight end Eric Ebron last week, and also witnessed top reserve Darren Fells ink a new deal with the Browns. At present, the Lions’ starting end is projected as 2017 rookie Michael Roberts, but the club is fully expected to sign a veteran tight end, per Rapoport. Thus far, Detroit has met with Luke Willson, Ed Dickson, Brent Celek, and Logan Paulsen, and all but Dickson remain on the open market.
Toilolo, who was recently released by the Falcons, has never been much of an offensive force, as he’s failed to top even 300 yards receiving in any of his five NFL campaigns. The 26-year-old was famously deployed as a tackle when Atlanta ran out of offensive linemen in a 2014 contest, but Toilolo didn’t grade well as a blocker in 2017, at least according to Pro Football Focus, which ranked Toilolo 23rd and 29th among tight ends in run-blocking and pass-blocking, respectively.