The Detroit Lions have been looking for help in their secondary all offseason. They lost cornerback Eric Wright early on and it was generally their weakest spot on the team in 2011. There were times when Matthew Stafford and the offense was on par with the best in the league but the defense just couldn't hold things together. On top of getting some help in the draft at cornerback, the Lions have been auditioning veteran safeties to come in and provide some help.
Louis Delmas and Amari Spievey are solid, but there's not much depth behind either of them, and most are of the opinion that the strong safety spot could still stand to be upgraded. According to Tim Twentyman on the official website, the Lions have made a signing: Sean Jones.
The team agreed to terms on a one-year contract with veteran Sean Jones on Monday, according to a league source. Jones passed his physical with the team on Monday. An unrestricted free agent, Jones, 30, visited the Lions' practice facility in Allen Park in early May, but left without a contract.
Jones has been a starter for the past two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who made moves in this past draft to draft Mark Barron early in the first round to replace Jones. He started all 32 games over the past two seasons with Tampa Bay.
According to the piece, the Lions had been giving the younger guys a longer look during the team's minicamp, but that general manager Martin Mayhew didn't see all he needed to see. Jones will come in and try to make a dent by unseating Spievey at the strong safety position, but as noted, safety wasn't the weakest part of the secondary in 2012. Cornerback was decidedly weaker and Spievey had a solid year, so Jones might only get as far as depth if he does make the roster.
The team had also looked at O.J. Atogwe and Chris Crocker this offseason. Atogwe is clearly the bigger name of the three, but he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles recently. Jones has started 85 games though and isn't too far behind Atogwe when it all comes down to it.
For more on the Detroit Lions, check out Pride of Detroit. You can also get all of your professional football news over at SB Nation's NFL hub.