The Detroit Lions have addressed their secondary.
On Thursday, the team agreed to a one-year contract with safety Christian Izien. The official terms of the deal were not immediately reported.
Izien comes to Detroit after three years playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has appeared in 45 games during that time with 15 starts. Last year, he appeared in 14 games and made one defensive start for the Buccaneers.
Over his three seasons in Tampa Bay, Izien has recorded three interceptions, 165 combined tackles including 111 solos, and three forced fumbles. He is the first external free agent addition the Lions have made on the defensive side of the ball.
Izien has some positional versatility, as he has also played some nickel cornerback in his career and could help out the Lions at that position as well. He played collegiately at Rutgers, where he recorded 304 combined tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and four interceptions over parts of five seasons.
Last year, he played 63 snaps as a free safety, 57 snaps in the box and also logged time at cornerback. In addition, he played 179 special teams snaps.
Detroit’s safety depth will be tested this year. Both Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch are recovering from season-ending injuries, and at this point their availability for the start of the season is uncertain. Thomas Harper filled in nicely in their places as a waiver wire addition after camp, but elsewhere only Loren Strickland and Dan Jackson are on the roster.
The Lions’ defense had taken somewhat of a hit this offseason, with linebacker Alex Anzalone, cornerback Amik Robertson and defensive tackle Roy Lopez all signing with new organizations. Anzalone signed with the Buccaneers, Robertson with the Washington Commanders and Lopez with the Arizona Cardinals.
Elsewhere, the Lions have brought back a pair of linebackers in Malcolm Rodriguez and Trevor Nowaske, along with cornerback Rock Ya-Sin.
The Lions had predominately focused their efforts early in free agency on the offensive side of the ball. On the first day of the legal tampering period, the Lions agreed to contracts with a pair of offensive linemen in center Cade Mays and offensive tackle Larry Borom.
On the second day, the team brought in a pair of depth signings at the skill positions. Running back Isiah Pacheco and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater both agreed to one-year deals to join the team as backups for Jahmyr Gibbs and Jared Goff, respectively.
Detroit has had plenty of change this offseason. The team released two veteran offensive linemen in Graham Glasgow and Taylor Decker, and traded running back David Montgomery to the Houston Texans.
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