The Lions have agreed to a brand new deal with safety Tracy Walker. The veteran will return on a three-year, $25MM contract with $17MM guaranteed, according to a source who spoke with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Walker, a third-round pick in 2018, was pegged by many draft analysts as a late-round selection. However, the Lions saw something in him and they weren’t willing to let him get away. Now, they know that they made the right choice, especially since the Panthers were ready to pounce at No. 85 overall.
Walker, 27, started in all 15 of his games this year, notching 108 tackles, one sack, one interception, and six passes defensed. Heading into free agency, Pro Football Focus estimated that the safety could notch a two-year, $13MM deal. That’s more or less what he has here, in terms of annual average value, though the Lions went a touch higher at $8MM+ per annum and added an extra year. The details of the deal will be telling — it’s possible that Walker has little in the way of guarantees for that third season.
While Walker could have generated interest on the open market, he was not as valued as other safeties in this year’s class. This year’s group featured Saints standout Marcus Williams (Saints), Chiefs veteran Tyrann Mathieu, and promising Jets safety Marcus Maye.
Great move. Tracy Walker is a class act and is only going to get better as his career progresses. His brother is a trainer at the club I work out at and drives the guys he trains very hard. Uses Tracy as the example, which is a good one to use
Great signing! I thought Walker made a lot of progress under that coaching staff last year. Now maybe all of those “take Hamilton at #2” people will shut it.
Can’t have too many good safeties. As much as I love this Walker re-up, I’d still support drafting Hamilton, provided the Jags somehow pass on Hutchinson.
The lions are an absolute joke. Free Agnecy starts and THIS is what we have to show for it? We need WRs man! And while we are wasting time signing Tracy Walker and other weak depth pieces, other teams are signing all the actual starters off the list and we’ll get the scraps. Same old BS, Lions will always be the ashtray of the NFL!
I think most people would consider Walker to be a bit better than a “depth piece,” but you’re entitled to your opinion
Tracy Walker was one of the few resigns we needed to make. He was great back there for the team. I love them resigning him.
Well DJ Chark is looking to sign with the Lions. Hopefully that is good enough.
Liking the Chark signing