The Lions have added another helping hand on defense and special teams, signing linebacker Damone Clark.
Clark profiles as a natural replacement for Grant Stuard, a linebacker and special teams ace for Detroit last season who departed in free agency. He could also get a look at weak-side linebacker in competition with Malcolm Rodriguez after the free agent departure of Alex Anzalone, though Clark has never been a particularly strong player in coverage.
Clark started last season with the Cowboys, was released in November, and finished it with the Texans, tallying 28 tackles in 14 games while logging the bulk of his snaps on special teams.
A fifth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2022, Clark's best season came in 2023 when he started all 17 games and led the team with 109 tackles. He hasn't played nearly as much on defense since, though one of his two starts in 2024 did come against the Lions when he had a game-high nine tackles in Detroit's blowout win in Dallas.
Clark is an LSU product who overlapped in Baton Rouge for a year with fellow former LSU linebacker Kelvin Sheppard when Sheppard was the program's director of player development. Clark said he's kept in touch with Sheppard since, "just to sharpen my game," which was one of the reasons he chose Detroit in free agency.
"My biggest thing with me, I always want to get better. I don’t want to stay the same. And he tells me when I’m doing good things, he tells me when I need to work on things, and that’s all part of it," Clark said Wednesday on a call with Detroit media. "I’m a sponge, I want to learn as much as I can because I know the player that I can be and I know the player that I want to be. For me, it’s all about taking the coaching. When guys are telling you something, they’re not telling you just to say they told you. They’re telling you because they want the best for you and they know what you can do.
"So I’m blessed to be able to come here and get coached by Shep, because I know how he is outside of ball. And it ain’t no different: he’s going to always shoot it straight to you."
Clark's role on defense for Detroit remains to be seen, but he's eager to grow under the leadership of Sheppard and Lions linebackers coach Shaun Dion Hamilton, another former NFL linebacker.
"You can look at their group of linebackers, man," Clark said. "You gotta tip your hat off to Jack Campbell, man. He played at an All-Pro level last year, obviously. And you’re seeing guys that Shep has coached and developed, like, who wouldn’t want that to be them? Who wouldn’t want that to be them, just to get that opportunity to get that coaching. And then you go out on Sundays, you’re out there flying around, making plays."