Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Detroit Lions sign DT Tyrunn Walker

The Detroit Lions have finally made a move in free agency.


Defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker, who played the past three seasons with the New Orleans Saints, signed a one-year deal with the Lions on Thursday night -- at least giving the Lions depth at defensive tackle, if not more .

The Lions clearly placed value in him, as Rand Getlin from Yahoo! reported the deal at $1.75 million, including a $750,000 signing bonus. That is heavy money for a player who has not played a ton of NFL football.

Walker played in 23 games for New Orleans with 28 tackles, 3.5 sacks and one forced fumble. He was a restricted free agent with the Saints, but they did not offer him a tender. In 308 snaps last season according to Pro Football Focus, Walker graded out positively against the run and the pass -- better in pass rush. He had 14 quarterback hurries and played 28 percent of the New Orleans snaps, according to PFF.

The 6-foot-3, 294-pound Walker, who turns 25 next week, went undrafted out of Tulsa in 2012.

What is potentially more interesting is he is the second acquisition this week by the Lions of a defensive lineman who played in primarily a 3-4 defense. Haloti Ngata, who Detroit traded for Tuesday, is one of the best 3-4 linemen in the league. Both the Saints and Baltimore Ravens ran multiple looks from their defenses last year.

Detroit has not given any indication what type of defense it plans to run next season. Asked at the combine about potentially switching to a 3-4 from a 4-3 defense, he would not address any sort of changes because at the time, the team still hoped to retain Ndamukong Suh.

At the very least, the two moves this week signify Detroit should be more multiple in its looks in 2015.

For more on Walker, here's what colleague Mike Triplett wrote about him earlier this month.

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