Jerome Harrison, Mike Bell Join Detroit Lions

Last October, running backs Jerome Harrison and Mike Bell were traded for each other in a deal involving the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles. Harrison was sent to Philadelphia and Bell to Cleveland. On Tuesday morning, the two were signed by the Detroit Lions and now will be teammates, competing for a spot on the roster at running back that was opened up by a season-ending injury to Mikel Leshoure.

Harrison, a Kalamazoo native, spent 2006-09 and the first four games of 2010 in Cleveland. His best season came in 2009 when he rushed for 862 yards and five touchdowns on 194 attempts. He also had 220 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in '09.

Bell has played for the Broncos, Saints, Eagles and Browns. The two seasons that stand out for him are 2006 and 2009. In '06 he rushed for 677 yards and eight touchdowns and in '09 he had 654 yards and five touchdowns.

To create room on the roster to sign these two backs, the Lions released fullback Preston Dial and waived/injured cornerback Maurice Leggett. Dial was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Alabama and Leggett joined the Lions after playing in Kansas City the last few years.

Detroit Lions Sign 4, Release 4

The Detroit Lions continued making changes to their roster on Thursday, announcing four signings and four releases. 

The signings aren't really anything new, as we had previously heard about three of them: DE Cliff Avril, LB Bobby Carpenter and CB Chris Houston. Avril signed his one-year tender on Thursday, and Carpenter inked a one-year deal of his own. Houston signed a deal for two years.

The fourth player who signed on Thursday is offensive tackle Isaac Sowells, who previously played for the Bengals and in the UFL. He worked out for the Lions on Wednesday.

To make room on the roster for these four players, the Lions released WR Michael Moore, OG Pat Illig, CB Branden Bufford and CB Brandon Stephens. All of these players were originally signed as undrafted free agents. Moore signed last year and spent the 2010 season on the practice squad. The other three had just signed last week.

Detroit Lions Sign 1, Claim 2, Release 3

The Detroit Lions made a number of moves on Wednesday. The day started with confirmation that linebacker Zack Follett had been released, and two other players were let go by the end of the day: cornerback Jack Williams and linebacker Korey Bosworth.

Williams was claimed back in 2009 and tore his ACL on his first play with the Lions. He's tried to come back from the injury but just can't seem to get healthy, and on Wednesday the Lions finally decided to move on.

Bosworth has also dealt with injuries. He broke his leg at the end of last year's preseason and ended up spending 2010 on injured reserve.

Taking the spots of Follett, Williams and Bosworth are defensive end Greg Banks, wide receiver Nate Hughes and offensive guard Greg Niland. Banks is an undrafted free agent from the University of Michigan who was officially signed on Wednesday. Niland is also an undrafted free agent (from UMass). He originally signed with the Cardinals but was let go and claimed off waivers.

Of the players added on Wednesday, only Hughes has NFL experience. He was previously with the Jaguars and has five career receptions for 70 yards and one touchdown in eight games. Like Niland, Hughes was claimed off waivers.

Lions Roster Claim Hilee Taylor Decides To Give Up Football

The mystery over why defensive end Hilee Taylor did not report to training camp after recently being claimed by the Detroit Lions has been solved. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press received an email from Taylor's agent, who cleared up the situation by explaining that Taylor is moving on from football.

"Hilee made a personal decision to pursue other opportunities beyond football and start a new chapter in his life," Taylor’s agent, Kevin Omell, wrote in an e-mail to the Free Press.

Had Taylor opted to continue playing and join the Lions, he would have likely competed with Willie Young for the fourth spot at defensive end. Turk McBride signing with the New Orleans Saints opened up another spot at defensive end, and it's likely that Taylor would have been in the mix to make the team.

Any discussion about Taylor and the 53-man roster is obviously now moot with him deciding to go elsewhere in life.

Detroit Lions Roster Claim Hilee Taylor Fails To Report

After being waived by the Carolina Panthers last Friday, defensive end Hilee Taylor was claimed by the Detroit Lions. The one-time North Carolina Tar Heel has failed to report to his new team, however. According to Pro Football Talk, this has landed him on the reserve/did not report list, which means he doesn't count against their roster.

Taylor came into the league in 2008 as a seventh-round draft pick. He made the Panthers' 53-man roster in 2008 and appeared in 10 games. He appeared in six games in 2009. He only had six total tackles in those two seasons, and last year he was out all season due to a knee injury.

It's not clear why Taylor has failed to report to the Lions right now. If he does show up at some point, he will likely compete for a spot on the 53-man roster with second-year player Willie Young. With Turk McBride headed to the New Orleans Saints, a spot at defensive end has opened up, although Taylor is obviously doing himself no favors by not reporting to camp.

Detroit Lions Add Maurice Stovall, Drop Jared Jenkins

For the most part, the Detroit Lions are done making any major moves with their roster. They do still need to re-sign Cliff Avril, but aside from that and some minor tweaks here or there, their roster is basically set.

One minor tweak that they made on Monday was signing wide receiver Maurice Stovall. He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the last five seasons after being drafted out of Notre Dame in the third round in 2006.Stovall's best season with Tampa Bay came in 2009 when he had 24 receptions, 366 yards and one touchdown. In his career he has only had three touchdowns, and the first one in his career actually came against the Lions in 2007.

Stovall is expected to compete for the fourth wide receiver spot with guys like Rashied Davis and Derrick Williams. Stovall is a solid special teams player, so that will help his chances of making the 53-man roster.

To make room on the 90-man roster for Stovall, the Lions released wide receiver Jared Jenkins, an undrafted free agent who was signed last week.

Detroit Lions Sign Linebacker Stephen Tulloch

Just before Nick Barnett was set to visit the Detroit Lions, the team signed another free agent linebacker instead.

The Lions agreed to terms with Stephen Tulloch Sunday morning, reports the Chicago Sun-Times’ Sean Jensen. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tulloch signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal with $1.8 million guaranteed.

Rumors had the Lions offering Tulloch a contract worth $6 million a year with a $10 million signing bonus last week. But Tulloch’s agent Drew Rosenhaus disputed those rumors on Twitter. Whether Rosenhaus’ side of the story is correct, the Lions felt as if they needed to talk to Barnett about filling their linebacker hole instead. 

With Barnett scheduled to visit on Sunday, Tulloch may have felt the need to take whatever deal the Lions were offering. MLive.com’s Tom Kowalski also speculates that Tulloch agreeing to a lesser contract might indicate that he wasn’t receiving the offers he hoped for on the open market. And if Barnett signed with the Lions, that left him one less place to go. A one-year deal obviously isn’t what he wanted, but maybe Tulloch can find a better contract in a less hectic marketplace next year. 

Tulloch played his first five NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans, three of which were played under Lions head coach Jim Schwartz when he was the Titans’ defensive coordinator.

Interestingly, Tulloch broke out once Schwartz left for Detroit. He finished second in the NFL last season with 160 tackles, 111 of them solo stops. In 2009, he compiled 121 tackles, good for 13th in the league. 

The Lions have done an impressive job bolstering their defensive unit since the NFL lockout ended. Tulloch joins Justin Durant, who signed with Detroit last week, in Detroit’s overhauled linebacking corps. Eric Wright also signed to help out the team’s secondary. 

Detroit still needs to sign a cornerback. The team would like to bring back Chris Houston, though it’s believed Houston is hoping to find a larger deal in free agency than the Lions are willing to offer right now. 

Click over to SB Nation’s Detroit Lions blog, Pride of Detroit, for plenty more on the Lions’ latest moves and updates from training camp. 

Detroit Lions Rumors: Nick Barnett Visiting This Weekend

Over the past few days a number of reports have surfaced suggesting that the Detroit Lions are going to attempt to sign free agent linebacker and former Packer Nick Barnett. Although Detroit has already signed linebacker Justin Durant, there is still another starting spot open, which is why the Lions are still targeting linebackers.

It appears a move could be made sometime this weekend to sign another linebacker. While many have been thinking the Lions will go after Stephen Tulloch, things have been pretty quiet about what's going on with him. Instead it appears the focus is turning to Barnett, who is set to visit the Lions on Sunday, according to Tom Kowalski.

Nick Barnett's visit to Detroit will be tomorrow ... Lions need to worry that he doesn't get out of city he's visiting today

It's unknown which team Barnett is visiting on Saturday, but as Kowalski said, the Lions are hoping he remains unsigned and ends up visiting Allen Park on Sunday. If he does, it's possible the Lions could sign him in what would be another move to improve their back seven.

Detroit Lions Sign Quinn Pitcock, 3 Others

In addition to announcing that they have re-signed a number of their players from last season, the Detroit Lions have also announced the signing of four free agents: wide receiver Rashied Davis, defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock, linebacker Justin Durant and cornerback Maurice Leggett.

There are two things worth noting about this list of signings. The first is that Pitcock is on it. He played for the Indianapolis Colts in 2007 and retired after only one year in the league because of depression and video game addiction. He started his comeback attempt last year and is now hoping to make it back with the Lions.

The second notable thing about the list is that cornerback Eric Wright isn't on it. He has not officially signed with the Lions yet, but he is scheduled to come to town on Friday night. My guess is he will sign on Saturday and officially join the Lions then.

In case you missed it, check out the other Lions free agents StoryStream for a list of their re-signings.

UPDATE: The Eric Wright signing was officially announced on Saturday.

Detroit Lions Agree To Deals With Eric Wright, Maurice Leggett

The Detroit Lions have agreed to terms on deals with two cornerbacks: Eric Wright and Maurice Leggett. Leggett's deal was completed and confirmed by his agency on Thursday afternoon, and Wright got his deal done early Friday morning.

Wright comes to the Lions after spending four years with the Cleveland Browns. In Cleveland he played in all but five games over the last four years and had a total of 249 tackles, 47 pass defenses, nine interceptions (one for a touchdown) and two forced fumbles. One of his interceptions came against the Lions and Matthew Stafford in 2009.

Leggett is a now a former Kansas City Chief. He signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2008 and played for current Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham that year. He had a very good rookie season and was playing well in 2009 before suffering a season-ending injury. A separate injury in last year's preseason kept him out during all of 2010. If he can stay healthy, he seems like a player that could contribute for the Lions.

The Lions have now addressed needs at linebacker and cornerback by locking up deals with Justin Durant, Wright and Leggett, and they may not be done just yet. Stephen Tulloch hasn't yet decided on where he will play next season, and it's possible Nick Barnett could be a target of the Lions when the Packers cut ties with him. I would expect Martin Mayhew to continue to make moves to improve the defense in the coming days.

Detroit Lions Rumors: Eric Wright Agrees To Deal

Nothing is confirmed right now, but rumors are swirling about cornerback Eric Wright agreeing to a deal with the Detroit Lions. All day Thursday the hope was for the Lions to make a run and eventually get a deal worked out with Johnathan Joseph, but he landed in Houston with the Texans. The Lions' backup plan appears to be to add Wright to the roster.

The first sign of Wright heading to Detroit came from former Lion Gerald Alexander, who tweeted this:

My Dogg Eric Wright @ithinkurwright bout to ball up there in Detroit. Wit that DLine too. Expect a big year from him

A few minutes earlier Wright tweeted the following:

Long process but we got it done.. Much love to the supporters.. Locked n loaded.. Lets gooooo!!

Wright is now tweeting about Detroit, and his Twitter avatar is a picture of him wearing a Lions hat, so I think it's safe to say this deal is done.

Detroit Lions, Rashied Davis Agree To Terms On 1-Year Deal

The Detroit Lions' first move involving a free agent from another team came last night when linebacker Justin Durant agreed to terms on a two-year deal. Their next move came Thursday morning when they agreed to terms on a one-year deal with wide receiver Rashied Davis.

Davis had spent his entire NFL career (he joined the league in 2005 after playing in the Arena Football League) in Chicago with the Bears. It sounds like he wanted to return to Chicago, but the offer the Bears gave him wasn't good enough.

Rashied Davis just got off the phone with the Lions and accepted their one-year offer. Wishes the Bears would have stepped up their offer.

In six seasons with the Bears, Davis had 88 catches for 1,032 yards and five touchdowns. He was one of their better special teams contributors, so that probably had a lot to do with the Lions bringing him in.

Detroit Lions, Justin Durant Agree To Terms On 2-Year Deal

The Detroit Lions hadn't made a move involving a free agent from another team throughout Tuesday and most of Wednesday. Late on Wednesday night, however, the Lions got the ball rolling by agreeing to a two-year deal with linebacker Justin Durant, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The first report of Durant agreeing to a deal with the Lions actually came from Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune. He broke the news after reporting that the Bears were out of the mix for Durant.

Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press quickly got in contact with Durant's agent, who said no deal was done just yet. Shortly after, however, Durant started tweeting about heading to Detroit, making it obvious that a deal was either close or already done. Schefter then confirmed the news.

This move isn't a surprise considering Durant was mentioned as the Lions' top linebacker target earlier this month, but the timing of it did catch me off guard. All day long the focus was on the Lions and Stephen Tulloch, but by the end of the day Durant was the one that agreed to a deal. It's not clear if this means Tulloch is no longer an option or not, but it would be quite the set of deals if Detroit could land both players.

Durant is entering his fifth season in the NFL in 2011. His first four seasons were spent with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Last year he played in 10 games and had 55 tackles and two pass defenses.

Detroit Lions Rumors: Johnathan Joseph, Stephen Tulloch The Main Targets?

Over the past 24 hours, there has been a lot of activity in the NFL. After waiting months and months for the lockout to end, teams were finally able to start making moves by signing undrafted free agents, signing draft picks, agreeing to deals with regular free agents and making trades.

For the Detroit Lions, there hasn't been a ton of activity just yet. While they did sign some UDFAs, tell Bryant Johnson he is going to be released and get deals lined up with Brandon McDonald and Dave Rayner, that has really been it. So far the Lions haven't dipped their foot into the free agent pool, although there are plenty of rumors about possible moves that could be made in the coming days.

Most of the Lions rumors out there focus on two players: cornerback Johnathan Joseph and linebacker Stephen Tulloch. The Joseph rumors have been around for the last few days, and Chris Mortensen suggested fans should "watch out" for the Lions and Joseph, who would fill Detroit's need at cornerback in a big way.

As for Tulloch, he has been linked to the Lions for months because his time with the Titans overlapped with Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz. John Clayton tweeted that the Lions are trying to get Tulloch (and a cornerback), and there was also this report from National Football Post on Tuesday night:

According to a league source, the club is "aggressively pursuing" Stephen Tulloch, another player that coach Jim Schwartz knows well from his days with the Tennessee Titans. Tulloch made 160 tackles last season for the Titans and has not missed a game in his NFL career.

Tulloch tweeted on Wednesday, "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions." This suggests an offer may have come his way, although that is purely speculation based on putting two and two together.