Five-year NFL defensive tackle Danny Shelton signed a two-year deal worth $8 million with the Detroit Lions. As of this posting, the exact financial structuring of the deal is not available to the public. Shelton played with the New England Patriots the last two years after being traded by the Cleveland Browns.
Another New England tie to Detroit: Free agent defensive lineman Danny Shelton is signing with the #Lions on a 2 year deal for $8M, per @RosenhausSports.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 18, 2020
Danny Shelton Signs With Detroit Lions
Shelton started off his career with the Cleveland Browns after being selected 12th overall in the 2015 NFL draft. Shelton would then go on to spend his first three seasons in the league with the Browns. There he had some success; however, his play fluctuated too often and ultimately didn’t live up to his draft selection with the team.
Shelton has now spent the last two seasons with the New England Patriots after being traded by the Browns. The Browns paired him with a fifth round pick in exchange for a third-round pick during the 2018 off-season. After a disappointing first year with the Patriots that resulted in him being a healthy scratch for multiple games, Shelton was brought back on a one year, one million dollar deal.
The former first-round pick then saw a resurgence in his play during the 2019 season. Shelton started 14 out of 16 games in 2019 after starting just one in 2018. He also reached career highs in sacks, combined tackles, and quarterback hits. Despite being an afterthought in last year’s free agency, Shelton’s elevated play in 2019 has led to him being more of a priority free agent this time around.
Danny Shelton will be a great addition as a true 0-1 technique nose tackle. Playing Shelton at nose tackle makes a lot of sense, considering he is about 6’2 and 345 pounds. This makes him one of the biggest players in the NFL. Though he has played more alignments before, this maximizes his ability to hold up against double teams in the run game and closing gaps.
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