National Football Post's Brad Biggs is reporting that the Detroit Lions are "aggressively pursuing" free agent linebacker Stephen Tulloch. The former Tennessee Titan has been frequently mentioned as a possible target of the Lions for the past few months given his connection to Lions head coach Jim Schwartz and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch.
The thinking throughout the lockout was that Tulloch could leave Tennessee for Detroit to help fill one of the Lions' holes at linebacker. If Biggs' report is true, the Lions are doing their best to entice Tulloch to join the team by giving him a very nice offer.
The source says the Lions have offered a signing bonus that reaches eight figures—$10 million – and they’re waiting to see how the situation will unfold. Schwartz put a full-court press on another former Titan a year ago when he showed up on the door step of defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch at the outset of free agency. Landing Tulloch would go a long way toward improving a defense that already has a stout line.
In five years in Tennessee, Tulloch appeared in 16 games every single season. A year ago he had a total of 160 tackles, six pass defenses and one interception.
If the Lions do end up signing Tulloch, it is believed that DeAndre Levy will move to one of the outside linebacker positions, allowing Tulloch to start in the middle.