Suddenly, the Detroit Lions’ safety room is feeling a bit crowded. On Monday, the Lions announced that they’ve re-signed veteran defensive back Avonte Maddox. Immediate contract details were not made available.
Maddox returns to the team after a very solid first season in Detroit in 2025. The former fourth-round pick spent his first seven seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, but last year he signed a one-year, $1.4 million deal to help out with secondary depth. Capable of playing both nickel and safety, Maddox opened the season as a reserve, playing just 43 defensive snaps through the first nine weeks of the season.
However, when the injury bug hit the Lions’ safety room hard in the back half of the season, Maddox stepped up and played good, sound football on the Lions’ defensive back-end. He was particularly helpful after Brian Branch went down with a torn Achilles against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14.
“Maddox went in there for him the other day, and we thought he did a hell of a job, he really did,” coach Dan Campbell said in December. “I mean, he played his tail off, which is why he’s here, because he’s a football guy. He’s got versatility, nickel that can play safety. Man, he put out a lot of fires back there for us, made quite a few plays.”
Maddox returns to a safety position that has a lot of questions right now. Branch may not be ready for the start of the season, Kerby Joseph is working through a knee injury that may linger, and the Lions have added a few new pieces to contend. Maddox will have to compete with the likes of Thomas Harper, Christian Izien, Dan Jackson, and Chuck Clark, who signed with the team last week.
Suddenly, their depth chart at safety looks like this:
- Brian Branch
- Kerby Joseph
- Avonte Maddox
- Christian Izien
- Chuck Clark
- Thomas Harper
- Dan Jackson
- Loren Strickland
It’s worth noting that a lot of those players—including Maddox—have the versatility to play at the nickel cornerback position.
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