Before free agency started, the Detroit Lions took a second straight one-year flier on edge rusher Marcus Davenport. The initial report of the deal being worth "up to" $4.75 million is doing quite a bit of work, with $2 million in unspecified incentives and a $50,000 per game roster bonus (up to $850,000 total).
So the Lions are taking on very little risk to give Davenport another shot after he played just two games for them last season after suffering a season-ending arm injury in Week 3. After a promising Week 1, he had missed Week 2 with a groin injury.
On it's own, it was easy to lightly lament the Lions bringing Davenport back. But it was also easy to assume another move to add a veteran edge rusher was coming, even if it wasn't on a big scale, thus softening the idea of taking another shot on Davenport.
But alas, all the Lions have done to this point is re-sign rotational edge rusher pieces. And release Za'Darius Smith, with Brad Holmes chalking that move up to "we couldn't afford it" due to Smith being due nearly $9 million in bonuses on the third day of the league year. However, the door does seem to be open for Smith to return.
The incoming draft class is also deep at edge rusher, at the league meeting this week head coach Dan Campbelll said they are not done looking to add.
For now, and even if they draft someone (let's put the idea of a notable outside addition to bed) the Lions are counting on Davenport to be a key contributor. Campbell acknowledged the risk attached to that this week.
"I think as long as he's willing to make another push, believes that he can get this done and we feel like the rehab and everything has gone well, we think this’ll heal," Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. "Everything's right about it, then yeah, we feel good. And as long as – if it goes the way we think it's going to go, Davenport is going to be a hell of a player."
Dan Campbell is trying to have an optimistic view of Marcus Davenport
Let's get down to the brass tacks here.
Davenport has played just six games the last two seasons, and a local reporter in Minnesota openly questioned how hard he was working to get back from an ankle injury during the 2023 season with the Vikings.
In his career, seven seasons since the New Orleans Saints took him in the first round of the 2018 draft, Davenport has played more than 500 defensive snaps once (2019). 2021 stands as his best season, with nine sacks as Pro Football Focus graded him as the sixth-best edge defender in the league. He had multiple surgeries after that season, then relatively healthy in 2022 with the Saints (15 games played; 490 defensive snaps) he dented the stat sheet with just a half-sack.
After all the doubt his words up to that point expressed, Campbell dropped the "hell of a player" line about Davenport that could easily be taken without full context. But it's clear Davenport can't be relied on to stay healthy, or to be productive if he manages to stay healthy (see 2022), and Campbell might be trying to talk himself into having optimism things will suddenly change.
