With the new league year beginning Wednesday, the Detroit Lions have made another move with hopes of bolstering their defense for the 2025 season.
The Lions agreed to a one-year contract with Stuard. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available, but reports indicate that the deal is fully guaranteed.
Stuard has appeared in 66 NFL games with five starts over his four-year NFL career, one season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and three with the Colts. In 2024, he played in all 17 games with five starts. He recorded 40 tackles with two for loss.
He entered the league as a Mr. Irrelevant, as the Buccaneers selected him with the final pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
The 2024 campaign was Stuard's most productive on the defensive side, as he made his mark as a special teams standout early in his career. Through his four campaigns, he has logged 1,267 career snaps on special teams and will likely be an asset for Detroit in this area.
Stuard recorded a career-high 19 tackles in the Colts' Week 8 win over the Miami Dolphins last season.
“My high school career, I was a backup," Stuard said following that game, via The Athletic. "In college, I was a backup for two-and-a-half years, and since I’ve been in the league, I’ve been a backup. So for me, I’ve really gotten used to getting those mental reps, those film reps. Even putting the film up on my projector at home, I might stand there and take the rep myself just to make sure I’m prepared, I’m ready to go.
"So for me, it’s definitely something you’ve got to consciously do and think about, but if I didn’t have that accountability for my teammates, I wouldn’t be as motivated to make sure I was ready. Because I don’t want to let those guys down.”
Detroit elected to part ways with its special teams captain, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, earlier in the offseason. Stuard could help fill this void.
Stuard joins a linebacking corps headlined by the trio of Alex Anzalone, Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes. Malcolm Rodriguez also provides valuable depth, though he suffered a torn ACL on Thanksgiving last season.
Because the Lions dealt with so many injuries at the position last year, they were forced to find external replacements such as Kwon Alexander and Ezekiel Turner to play important roles.
Already this offseason, the Lions elected to re-sign Barnes, Turner and Anthony Pittman to new contracts. Barnes, a member of the team's 2021 draft class, inked a three-year, $25.5 million deal to remain in Detroit.
