Dan Orlovsky didn’t play any offensive snaps as the backup to Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford in 2014.
The team liked what it saw because they announced Monday that Orlovsky has been re-signed to a one-year contract. Orlovsky said during the season that he felt he was playing an important role despite his lack of playing time.
“I don’t think you can underestimate the value of it,” Orlovsky said, via the team’s website. “There is an enormous value in being a good teammate. It’s important for me to understand my role. I talk to the younger guys. I talk to the defense and offer them a nugget here and there. Over 16 games, if one or two players can make a play here and there, that’s the difference between going on and going home.”
Orlovsky hasn’t thrown a pass in a regular season game since 2012, when he threw seven of them for the Buccaneers. His last run as a starter came in 2011 with the Colts and he also started seven games during the Lions’ winless 2008 campaign. Orlovsky’s most memorable moment came that year when he ran out of the end zone for a safety in a two-point loss to the Vikings.
Third-stringer Kellen Moore isn’t expected to be tendered as a restricted free agent, so the Lions may still add some new blood to the quarterback depth chart.