51 Brandon Copeland OLB

Copeland signed a contract with the Jets on Tuesday.

Copeland entered free agency as a restricted free agent but became unrestricted when the Lions declined to tender him a contract. The 26-year-old missed the entire 2017 season with a torn pectoral and is likely to serve as a reserve linebacker for the Jets in 2018.

Copeland did not receive a contract tender from the Lions, Michael Rothstein of ESPN reports.

Copeland, who spent the entire 2017 season on injured reserve, will thus become an unrestricted free agent. Before going down with a torn pectoral muscle in the preseason, he was in competition for the starting job at strong-side linebacker while also taking reps at defensive end. Fortunately, the Penn product was recently cleared to return to football activities and should be able to participate in offseason workouts with whichever team he may ultimately sign with.

Copeland (pectoral) has been fully cleared for football activities, Michael Rothstein of ESPN reports.

Copeland tore his pectoral during the preseason and spent the entire 2017 campaign on injured reserve. He's set to become an unrestricted free agent in March, but it's likely that Detroit brings him back to primarily serve in a special-teams role in 2018.