Welcome back home, Avonte Maddox.
Maddox, a Detroit native who starred at Martin Luther King High School, is the newest member of the Detroit Lions’ secondary. He inked a one-year contract with his hometown NFL team Friday.
The veteran cornerback, a 2018 fourth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, played each of his first seven NFL seasons in the “City of Brotherly Love.”
Coming off a Super Bowl-winning campaign with the Eagles, Maddox will provide some much-needed depth to Detroit’s cornerbacks room. The Lions have added multiple veteran corners this offseason including Maddox, D.J. Reed and Rock Ya-Sin.
In 81 career games, he’s logged 270 total tackles, including 13 tackles for loss, 36 passes defensed, eight forced fumbles, four interceptions and three sacks.
He’s played a largely reserve role throughout his career, including in 2024. Although he suited up for all 17 regular season games, he logged just three starts.
He recorded 20 total tackles and five passes defensed in his final season in Philadelphia, and earned a Pro Football Focus overall grade of 56.3. He also posted a PFF coverage grade of 56.6 and a pass-rush mark of 71.9. He did all this while logging 345 total snaps, including the majority of them (259) in the slot.
Maddox also notably deflected a pass of Kansas City Chiefs signal-caller Patrick Mahomes late in the third quarter of Super Bowl LIX. It came on a fourth-and-5 play, with the Eagles already leading, 27-0.
Maddox is not expected to steal snaps on the boundary from fellow offseason acquisition D.J. Reed and 2024 first-round pick Terrion Arnold. However, the University of Pittsburgh product is expected to compete for snaps with the other nickel corners on Detroit’s roster, Amik Robertson and Ennis Rakestraw.
Last season, Robertson handled the majority of the reps as the slot-corner until an injury to Carlton Davis prompted him to move to working on the boundary.
With that said, I project Maddox, as a savvy vet, to play a valuable role as a depth piece in the Lions’ secondary in 2025.
Subsequently, I give the short-term, low-risk signing a “B+” grade at this present juncture.
