Apparently, defensive end Jared DeVries is a glutton for punishment. The unrestricted free agent has spent his entire career with the Lions, joining the team as a third-round pick in the 1999 draft.
He has remained with the team throughout one of the darkest periods in franchise history, which began when running back Barry Sanders abruptly retired not long before the launch of DeVries’ first training camp. In the past eleven years, he has experienced the latter stages of the Bobby Ross regime, the Gary Moeller cup of coffee, the Marty Mornhinweg mistake, the Steve Mariucci years, the Dick Jauron stop-gap, and the Rod Marinelli misery.
Last year, DeVries popped an Achilles’ tendon in August and missed the entire year.
Per John Niyo of the Detroit News, DeVries will re-sign with the team on Monday. He’ll reportedly get a one-year, $1.7 million deal. Niyo says that the money is roughly the same as what DeVries would have earned under the contract that the Lions terminated in February.
Through 2005, DeVries had only three career starts. He then started nine games in 2006, 10 in 2007, and 10 in 2008.