Hoping to bolster their secondary after Sunday's loss to San Francisco, the Detroit Lions waived corner Kevin Barnes on Tuesday in order to claim Saints defensive back Jerome Murphy off waivers according to Lions beat writer Tim Twentyman.
Barnes was added in an Aug. 27 trade with Washington due to Detroit's glaring need for bodies in its defensive backfield, but clearly did not blow the coaching staff away despite only seeing 14 snaps against the 49ers.The 26-year-old cornerback was a third-round selection out of Maryland in 2009 and has recorded three career interceptions.
The thought of adding the 6'0, 200-pound Murphy clearly intrigued the Lions enough to make this move, as the organization obviously felt that his long-term potential outweighed that of Barnes'. Aside from the fact that Murphy, a former standout at South Florida, was recently released by the Saints following their loss to Carolina over the weekend, the youngster will at the very least offer plenty of speed for a secondary that can't seem to stay healthy.
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