Matt Patricia sure likes himself some Patriots defenders. At the start of the legal tampering period, Patricia's Detroit Lions came to an agreement with a couple of former New England defensive players and are now dipping their toe in the trade market to bring in one more.
On Wednesday, the Lions agreed to a trade with New England that will see veteran safety Duron Harmon land in Detroit. Mike Reiss of ESPN relays that the Patriots will get a fifth round pick (No. 172 overall), while the Lions will get Harmon and a seventh (No. 235 overall)." Harmon is heading into the final year of his contract in 2020. He owns a cap hit of $5.5 million and the Patriots are now able to clear $4.25 of that by shipping him out of town.
The 29-year-old safety, who was behind the likes of Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung on the depth chart, has spent his entire career with New England after the team drafted him in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Rutgers. In 16 games for the Patriots last season (eight starts), Harmon totaled two interceptions, five passes defended and 22 tackles. Outside of missing one game during his rookie season, Harmon has been the definition of durable as he's played in every single game for New England dating back to 2014.
This move reunites Harmon with Matt Patricia, who was his defensive coordinator from 2013 up until he left for Detroit following the 2017 season. Harmon has been one of the leaders in the Patriots secondary and was named captain during a period of his tenure, which is something that Patricia likely values as he continues to try to build up his culture with the Lions.
Harmon will see plenty of familiar faces once he gets to the Motor City as linebacker Jamie Collins, who spent the entire 2019 season with the Pats, recently agreed to a three-year, $30 million deal and defensive tackle Danny Shelton just shook hands on a two-year, $8 million contract.
