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Matt Patricia is bringing another former New England Patriot to the Detroit Lions.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that defensive lineman Trey Flowers, who played under Patricia in New England from 2015-2017, has agreed to join the Lions on a lucrative five-year contract in the range of $16-17 million per season.
Flowers, a fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft, played in just one game as a rookie before emerging as a starter in 2016. Between 2016-2018, Flowers totaled 164 tackles, 25 tackles for loss and 21 sacks. He is coming off a career-high 7.5 sacks in 2018 and was one of this offseason’s top available free agents.
The addition of Flowers comes on the heels of Detroit signing two other ex-Patriots, wideout Danny Amendola and defensive back Justin Coleman.
Patricia, a longtime Patriots assistant who served as defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017, was 6-10 in his first season as Detroit’s head coach.
The market for Flowers was expected to be huge because he’s at a prime age of 25, played a key role on a championship team, and there weren’t many great edge defenders in free agency due to franchise tags. Add in Patricia’s desire to collect former Patriots players, and Flowers’ huge deal isn’t so shocking.
