The Lions are signing former Seahawks tight end Luke Willson, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). It’s a one-year deal worth $2.5MM with some upside potential in his deal. Willson will receive $1.5MM guaranteed, tweets Adam Caplan of SiriusXM.
Willson also visited the Panthers and Jaguars before agreeing to sign with Detroit. It’s not clear if he had viable offers from Carolina or Jacksonville, but in any case, the Lions will probably give him a better chance to showcase his talents. With the Panthers, Willson would have been playing behind Greg Olsen. And it’s possible that the Jaguars would have passed on Niles Paul had they signed Willson, but he probably still would have been playing alongside Austin Seferian-Jenkins.
The Lions had a clear need for a tight end after cutting Eric Ebron and watching Darren Fells sign with the Browns. The Lions missed out on Trey Burton, but they have added a promising (and cheaper) option in Willson..
Willson failed to top 200 yards receiving in either of the past two seasons, but he graded out as the league’s No. 26 run-blocking tight end among 69 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.
The Lions’ tight end depth chart is comprised of Willson, Michael Roberts, Hakeem Valles, and Brandon Barnes.
Great picture
Sums up our Lions perfectly
No more “Wilson 2 Willson”. He’s a good dude, i hope he does well in Detroit. At least he’ll have a familiar face to welcome him (Golden Tate).
Apparently this is his child hood team. I’m excited to see him. Good blocker with good size. If he stays healthy, I can see Stafford fall in love with him