The Detroit Lions have picked up some veteran help in their secondary, in the form of one of the few players with the potential to start who’s still available in free agency.
Sean Jones, a safety who has started all 16 games each of the last two years for the Buccaneers, has signed with Detroit. The Lions will be Jones’ fourth NFL team; he was drafted by the Browns in 2004 and played five years in Cleveland and one in Philadelphia before signing with the Bucs.
Jones, who visited the Lions in early May but left Detroit without a contract, is expected to compete with incumbent starter Amari Spievey and veteran Erik Coleman for one starting safety job. The other starting safety in Detroit is Louis Delmas.
Improving the secondary has been a top offseason priority for the Lions, who were shredded by Matt Flynn in a loss to the Packers in the final game of the regular season and by Drew Brees in their loss to the Saints in the postseason. Other additions to the secondary in Detroit have included signing free agent cornerback Jacob Lacey and drafting cornerbacks Dwight Bentley, Chris Greenwood and Jonte Green.