At every level of their defense, the Lions need more talent. Which sort of goes without saying after that defense broke franchise records for futility.
In the secondary, Detroit's top safety, Duron Harmon, is likely to depart as a free agent. Its No. 2 safety, Tracy Walker, is coming off a disappointing year. And its No. 3 safety is ... who? Will Harris?
Yeah, the Lions might be shopping at that position this offseason. And their new head coach and new defensive coordinator might know where to look.
One of the top safeties on the free agent market will be Marcus Williams, who spent the past four seasons in New Orleans where Dan Campbell was his assistant head coach and Aaron Glenn was his defensive backs coach.
Williams, a second-round pick out of Utah in 2017, has started 60 games for the Saints, plus seven more in the playoffs. Since 2019, he ranks seventh among safeties in passes defended (20) and sixth in interceptions (7).
Along with his ball skills, Williams would bring the kind of defensive attitude Campbell wants in Detroit. And he'd have a keen understanding of the kind of schemes Glenn wants to run.
Related
In a projection of this year's free agent signings, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler deemed the Lions the best fit for Williams:
New Lions coach Dan Campbell and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn come from New Orleans, where they watched Williams intercept 13 passes and break up 30 more over four seasons. A defense in need of playmaking on the back end will explore signing the instinctual post safety. So will New Orleans. Players with his ball skills get paid.
The Saints are facing a cap crunch and have another key free agent to re-sign in DE Trey Hendrickson, who just racked up an NFC-best 13.5 sacks. So it's no sure thing they bring back Williams. If he heads elsewhere, he might pop up in Detroit.
Related
