Lions notes: Could Matt Patricia reunite with 2 veteran Patriots defenders?

Matt Patricia, like many coordinators turned head coach, always seem to like reuniting with former players. We’ve seen him bring in guys like Tavon Wilson, Trey Flowers, Danny Amendola, Justin Coleman, and LeGarrette Blount among many, many others.

So it’s stands to believe that Patricia may approach free agency with some former Patriots in mind again this offseason.

Albert Breer of MMQB was thinking along those lines in his weekly column and threw out a couple of interesting names that would make sense in Detroit, and one that would make sense, but isn’t too likely. (Note: He is not reporting there is interest here, he’s simply thinking out loud.)

“It’s hard to see LB Kyle Van Noy going back to Detroit, where he spent two-and-a-half years, but both Devin McCourty and Jamie Collins were important pieces of past Matt Patricia defenses, and both could be affordable because of their age (each guy is in his 30s),” Breer wrote.

The Lions currently have a need for a veteran safety with youngsters Tracy Walker and Will Harris currently the top two on the depth chart. While Tavon Wilson is a likely candidate to be re-signed this year, the veteran safety seemed a little eager to face free agency when he recently talked with ESPN’s Michael Rothstein.

“(Wilson) tells me he would be ‘happy coming back to Detroit,’ but he’s also looking forward to going through the free agency process,” Rothstein tweeted last week.

McCourty could easily step into that veteran role with 10 years of experience in this defense.

As for Collins, he was linked to Detroit after the Browns released him in 2019. There was thought to be some bad blood between him and the Patriots—hence why they traded him back in 2016—but his return to New England in 2019 suggests that has washed over. Detroit could certainly use an upgrade at the linebacker position, and Collins had a productive season with the Patriots last year.

• In NFL news, here’s a look at the new rules proposals coming in 2020. It doesn’t appear the league will be making any big changes, except for the potential addition of a booth umpire to the set of game officials:

• Additionally, due to ongoing CBA negotiations, the NFL has pushed back the Franchise Tag deadline to exactly one second before the tampering period begins next Monday:

• Nick Baumgardner and Chris Burke have dueling seven-round mock drafts that both start with a somewhat surprise with the third overall pick: Clemson linebacker/safety Isaiah Simmons.

• One former Detroit Lion was excited about the promotion of Steve Gregory from defensive assistant to defensive backs coach:

• Kyle Meinke is sticking with Chase Young as his pick for the Lions. He explains why here.

• Looking for some other free agents the Lions could add? Justin Rogers of the Detroit News previews the free agent class on the offensive side of the ball.