ALLEN PARK -- When the Las Vegas Raiders waived Thomas Harper after training camp, the 24-year-old called the news shocking. But when he learned the Detroit Lions had claimed him off waivers, his tune quickly changed.
“If I was going to go anywhere, it was probably like five places (I wanted to go) and here was one of them,” Harper told MLive. “I mean, winning ball. Like I say, I’m trying to win, and at the end of the day, that’s what they do here. So, just trying to buy into the culture and look at it as an opportunity.”
Harper went unselected in the 2024 NFL draft after playing at Oklahoma State and Notre Dame.
He signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent but was waived before the start of the regular season. The Raiders claimed him the very next day.
As a rookie in Las Vegas, Harper started five of the 15 games he played, finishing with 26 tackles, two passes defended, a fumble recovery, and an interception. He also logged 265 snaps on special teams.
Following this year’s training camp, the Lions were still light on safety depth.
They quickly added Daniel Thomas after his release from the Jacksonville Jaguars, but also needed another body to back up starters Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch. Harper’s versatility on defense and special teams fit the bill.
“He’s got some awareness, and he’s got the ability to do a lot of different jobs on teams,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said Friday. “And then certainly defensively, he’s got a little versatility there, too. For us, it’s always going to start with special teams.”
Harper has only been with the Lions for about a week, but one of the first things he noticed was the accountability standard inside the locker room.
“Accountability. If somebody messing up on a play or somebody getting beat, or if something, we making the wrong check, going down the wrong way, it’s accountability,” Harper said.
“It ain’t nobody bigger than the program. That’s what I see here. And it’s the players that’s holding each other accountable.”
Before arriving in Detroit, Harper admitted he didn’t know much about the city outside of pop culture references, naming rapper Tee Grizzley and the Starz drama “BMF,” which is based on the lives of Detroit natives Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory.
What he did know, however, was Detroit’s secondary.
Harper called the group of Branch, Joseph, Amik Robertson, D.J. Reed, and Terrion Arnold one of the “top-five backends” in the league -- and it’s a big reason he’s excited to join the Lions.
“I’m trying to pick their brain already,” Harper said. “I ask them what do they look at in man. Are they looking at the hip, where their eyes are in this coverage? What do you see in this? What made you do that? So yeah, just learning from them, picking their brain, and I think just the ability that they hold each other accountable is definitely what separates them.”
Like several other recent additions, Sunday’s matchup with Green Bay will be Harper’s first action in a Lions uniform. For fans unfamiliar with his style of play, he offered a preview.
“I’m just a high-motor guy. I feel like I’m everywhere,” he said. “I could be in a deep path on the left side, and they could be going all the way down the right hash or the right sideline. I’m going to show up.”
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