Nov 24, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Minnesota Vikings tight end Rhett Ellison (85) is tackled by Detroit Lions free safety Glover Quin (27) during the second quarter of a NFL game on Thanksgiving at Ford Field. Photo Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Glover Quin didn’t quite grasp what he’d accomplished until he got off the phone with his wife just before the Detroit Lions’ first practice of training camp.
Quin finalized a two-year extension that will keep him in Detroit through the 2019 season on Sunday afternoon, and when he called his wife to tell her the deal was official, she told him: “Congratulations. I’m really happy for you. You’re signing your third NFL contract.”
“A lot of people don’t sign three NFL contracts,” Quin said. “So when she said that it was like, wow, a little kid like me from a small town in Mississippi – Summit, Miss., – just to be in the NFL long enough to receive three contracts and to play at a level high enough to be rewarded with three contacts, it feels good.”
Though Quin turns 32 in January, the Lions had no qualms about giving their ironman safety a short-term extension.
In four seasons in Detroit, Quin has played at a Pro-Bowl level while never missing a game and he’s become the unlikely backbone of the Lions’ defense.
Last year, he made 68 tackles and tied for the team lead with two interceptions, and he enters this fall with a 116-game starting streak, most in the NFL among safeties and seventh most overall.
Quin said finalizing the deal now, before the start of camp, brought him a welcome peace of mind. Contract talks had been ongoing for several months, and Quin said he convinced himself he’d be OK testing free agency next spring if a deal wasn’t done before the season.
“Going into the last year of a contract you just never know what’s going to happen,” Quin said. “If you don’t get a deal, now you’re in free agency. You never know. We live in Houston. We kind of got used to being in Detroit, so to have to leave and now you’re going to some other city. You don’t want to have to do that.”
With Quin’s deal done, the Lions can now turn their attention to several other starters headed for free agency in the spring. Defensive end Ziggy Ansah, center Travis Swanson and cornerback Nevin Lawson are all in the final year of their contracts, and quarterback Matthew Stafford is expected to get his long-term extension done before the season begins.
Stafford should command a deal north of $25 million per season that will make him the highest paid player in NFL history. He said he’s not yet sure if he’ll negotiate into the season if a deal isn’t done by Sept. 10.
“I’m honestly pretty tired of talking about it,” Stafford said. “I’m going to be here playing for 16 games at least, hopefully a lot more than that, so we’ll see.”
ROOKIE TO WATCH
–LB Jarrad Davis. Davis took first-team reps at middle linebacker Sunday and is expected to start at the position for the Lions this fall. A first-round pick out of Florida, Davis has impressed coaches and teammates both with how quickly he’s picked up the defense and his on- and off-field approach to the game. “I like playing with him,” safety Glover Quin said. “He’s all football. He’s very serious. Taking his job very seriously. He wants to be great. You can see it. You can tell right away, he asks questions, the way he works, the way he studies. He’s going to be a great addition for us.”
