MONDAY, 11:11am: Mays has officially passed his physical and signed with the Lions, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
SATURDAY, 9:31am: The Lions plan to sign safety Taylor Mays, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. This comes four days after their NFC North brethren in Minnesota cut him. Adam Schefter of ESPN first confirmed the deal on Twitter.
Detroit will provide the 27-year-old former second-round selection a chance to contribute as a depth piece, with Mays having started just seven games in his five-year career — six of those came in his rookie season with the 49ers in 2010. Mays, whose $25K signing bonus still counts against Minnesota’s salary cap, served mostly as a special-teamer with the Bengals from 2011-14, but Cincinnati opted not to bring him back after signing him to a one-year deal last March.
Glover Quin and James Ihedigbo played well as the starting back-line defenders for the Lions last season, so Mays’ arrival shouldn’t impact that pair. Mays has 84 career tackles, but Pro Football Focus rated the former USC standout as a mid-tier special teams performer last season after he made 10 stops in that capacity.