For the past few years, veteran safety Quandre Diggs has bounced around from team to team in the twilight of his career. Each time he becomes a free agent, there’s a subset of Lions fans who express their desire to bring him back to the team that drafted him.
Diggs is now with the Seattle Seahawks and in Santa Clara for the Super Bowl, but he told media this week that a reunion with the Lions almost happened this season.
“I had a chance. I had a chance this year. It just didn’t work out that way,” Diggs told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
When asked why it didn’t happen, Diggs simply said that the Seahawks—a place he considers a second home after playing for them for 4.5 seasons—offered “an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
To put into context what exactly happened this season, Diggs entered the year a free agent, but signed with the Tennessee Titans. After the Titans’ season went south, Diggs requested his release from the team, and they obliged in early November. That’s around the same time the Lions were dealing with some injuries to their secondary. Kerby Joseph was sidelined with a knee injury, Brian Branch had just suffered a torn Achilles, and Thomas Harper had a concussion.
Diggs chose Seattle instead, and the Lions signed safety Jammie Robinson. But it’s worth noting Diggs has barely played at all for the Seahawks. Diggs is on the Seahawks’ practice squad, and was only called up a single time for a Week 13 performance that included just four special teams snaps. Obviously, his veteran presence offers some intangibles to a young Seahawks secondary, as well.
UPDATE: Per Birkett, the Lions actually tried to poach Diggs from their practice squad, but the veteran safety said no.
Diggs was drafted by the Lions back in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. It took him three years to become an established starter in Detroit, but he quickly became a fan favorite and an impact player. However, after clashing with coach Matt Patricia, the Lions unceremoniously traded Diggs and a seventh-round pick for just a fifth-round pick in return. Diggs proceeded to make three consecutive Pro Bowls with the Seahawks.
Despite the ugly divorce from the team, Diggs said he still has love for the Lions organization and their fans, and even expects to show up to future Lions games once his career is over.
“Those fans, the organization, I love them,” Diggs said. “I’ve been there numerous times to play and it’s been nothing but love, nothing but the crowd still cheering for me and enjoying who I am as a person. So I’m forever thankful. I’m forever thankful for the opportunity that I had to go there, and it’ll be a place that I always have a special place in my heart (for), and I’m sure guys will see me at games when I retire.”
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