Defensive end Cliff Avril, the only remaining restricted free agent for the Detroit Lions, signed his one-year tender on Thursday morning. Avril had put off signing the tender until now likely because Thursday is expected to be the first day that free agents can practice. Even if he had been under contract earlier, he would not have been able to do much other than watch practice, so it wasn't necessary to officially sign until Thursday.

Avril was hoping to get a long-term deal from the Lions, but for the time being he will go forward with the one-year tender. It's expected the Lions and Avril will negotiate a long-term deal at some point in the future, but there's no timetable for an extension to be worked out.

In any case, Avril is happy to be back with the Lions. He tweeted this on Thursday:

I'm back at it... Feels good to be back in the lockerroom...

The move to re-sign Avril has not been officially announced yet, likely because the Lions are deciding which player will be released to make room for Avril on the roster.