Report: Detroit Lions signing DJ Chark to 1-year deal

It didn’t take long for the Detroit Lions to get the receiver they’ve been looking for.

According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Lions have agreed to terms with former Jaguars receiver DJ Chark on a one-year deal. The deal is worth $10 million fully guaranteed per Ian Rapoport with the potential of maxing out at $12 million.

The Lions have made it well known that they were in the receiver market, particularly for an outside receiver capable of being the team’s “X” receiver. Chark, standing at 6-foot-4 and 198 pounds, fits exactly that mold—and brings 4.3-speed with him.

At his most productive, Chark was a Pro Bowl receiver who hauled in 73 passes for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns in 2018. However, Chark has battled with injuries in his last two seasons. He missed three games in 2020 and only played in four games after fracturing his ankle early in the 2021 season.

Given that this is just a one-year deal for Chark, this shouldn’t alter Detroit’s plans for adding a receiver in the draft. However, with a fully-guaranteed $10 million deal, you can bet that Chark will be heavily featured in Detroit’s offense this year, which features Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, and Quintez Cephus as the other top receivers.

With so much guaranteed money, it would seem on the surface that this likely takes them out of consideration for Allen Robinson in free agency, but as our own Erik Schlitt noted, the Lions should still have upwards of $9 million available to spend in free agency. The Lions could still make another splash or two.

You can follow along with all of the Lions’ moves with our free agency tracker.