Lions' Jarrad Davis: Backed by Patricia

Davis (ankle) remains in Detroit's plans despite the team declining to pick up his fifth-year option, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports. "I think JD is a cornerstone of what we're trying to do, and he's in those big-picture plans of where we're trying to go," head coach Matt Patricia said during a recent video call with reporters.

After bringing in two notable free-agent linebackers this offseason, Detroit officially declined to pick up Davis' fifth-year option this month. However, Patricia doesn't make it seem as if the writing is on the wall for Davis' time in Detroit despite a down 2019 season. Instead, the team is probably just unwilling to pay over $10 million for Davis' services in 2021, preferring to instead work out a long-term deal with a lesser cap hit. While it remains to be seen to what extent Jamie Collins' arrival will specifically impact Davis' role, it's possible Davis could continue to post strong tackle numbers in 2020 (he had 196 total tackles over his first two NFL seasons) and beyond, even if his real-life contributions aren't actually worthy of his first-round pedigree.