You know how this story goes: a defensive player makes a name for himself in New England. Then said player goes elsewhere to get paid. Then when he ultimately gets released by the new team, whether for injuries or salary or such, he returns to New England and flourishes again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
And now another player who played well enough to get paid handsomely by another team is being released, and he would be a perfect fit for a reunion with the team that drafted him and helped get him paid.
According to a report, the Detroit Lions are set to release defensive end Trey Flowers at the start of the new league year. Flowers, 28, was drafted by the Patriots in 2015. After a redshirt/IR rookie season he came on in 2016, culminating in a monster 2.5-sack performance in the Patriots' Super Bowl 51 win. With two Super Bowl wins in hand, Flowers left the Pats and signed a lucrative five-year, $90 million deal with Detroit Lions (a deal signed by then Lions coach Matt Patricia, no less). After a solid first season in Detroit, injuries have plagued Flowers the past two seasons, allowing him to only appear in 14 total games. The Lions will save over $10 million this season, though Flowers will count almost $13 million in dead money against Detroit’s cap.
Given the fit that Flowers was in the Patriots defense, and their need for quality edge defenders, not to mention Patricia’s return to Foxboro, all the logical signs are there for a possible return with Flowers picking up where he left off at departure. And with other potentially pricey veteran defenders available (Bobby Wagner, Chandler Jones), Flowers, who will have taken home just over $54 million from the Lions, likely won’t be seeking a massive pay day, though there likely will be suitors aplenty.
The idea of a Pats defender leaving and returning is so familiar football media immediately had their fun with the idea of a Flowers homecoming in Foxboro.
Will Trey Flowers be the next Patrick Chung, Kyle Van Noy or Jamie Collins, returning to the spot where it all began, under wing of original pro football mentor once again? Time will tell, but with so many questions surrounding a Patriots defense in transition, looking to get younger and faster, this reunion makes too much sense.
NFL free agency, also the start of the new league year, begins officially March 16 at 4 p.m. EST.
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