Detroit Lions see 'vast room for improvement' for Tracy Walker; franchise tag unlikely

The Detroit Lions have made no secret of their desire to re-sign Tracy Walker before free agency opens in March, and Walker has said he wants to stay with the team that drafted him after having a bounce-back season in 2021.

“Both him and I believe, for as good as his year was, there is vast room for improvement,” Lions secondary coach Aubrey Pleasant said at the Senior Bowl. “And I think collectively, if we get a chance to maybe work together again in the future, maybe you guys can see the same progression that maybe you’ve seen over the past year.”

Walker finished last season with a team-leading and career-high 108 tackles despite missing two games with COVID-19.

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He had his only interception in the Lions’ season-ending win over the Green Bay Packers and finished with one sack and three tackles for loss.

As important as he was to the defense last season, Walker is an unlikely candidate for the franchise tag, NFL observers canvassed at the Senior Bowl believe, because of his lack of turnover production, the depth of the free agent safety class and the cost of the tag.

NFL teams have a two-week window to use the franchise tag on players beginning Tuesday and ending March 8. The tag is expected to be around $13 million for safeties.

The free agent negotiating period opens at noon March 14.

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Along with Walker, fellow starting safety Dean Marlowe will be an unrestricted free agent and top reserve C.J. Moore will be a restricted free agent. Will Harris, who played outside and nickel cornerback the second half of the season after opening the year as a starting safety, remains under contract through 2022.

The New Orleans Saints’ Marcus Williams, who played his first four seasons under Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, the Cincinnati Bengals’ Jessie Bates III and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Tyrann Mathieu are the top safeties on expiring contracts in a class that includes ex-Lion Quandre Diggs of the Seattle Seahawks and Marcus Maye of the New York Jets.

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Both Diggs (broken leg) and Maye (ruptured Achilles tendon) are coming off season-ending injuries. Bates is expected to be franchised in Cincinnati, and Williams could be as well in New Orleans.

“Because of the way we play defensively, we really ask our safeties to do a lot of things, not only in the run fits, in pass coverage, blitzing, playing in the middle of the field or half-field safety,” Pleasant said. “So really you need some versatility, you got to have some really, really good leadership qualities and you’ve got to have some ball production."

If Bates and Williams are franchised, Walker, who turned 27 earlier this month, could end up as one of the top free safeties on the market.

For now, he ranks as the 20th-best safety and 169th overall player on Pro Football Focus’ top 200 free agent list. The site projects he will land a two-year contract worth $9 million in free agency.

Pass rusher Charles Harris, the only other Lion on the list (No. 107), is the team's other priority free agent. Harris is coming off his best season as a pro, but is not a candidate for the franchise tag with one year of production.

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He had a career-high 7.5 sacks in 17 games for the Lions last season, more than he had in his first four NFL seasons combined, and was one of the team’s best run defenders.

The Lions last used the tag on Ziggy Ansah in 2018.

Cabinda's contract

The Lions gave fullback Jason Cabinda $2.035 million guaranteed on the two-year extension he signed last week. Cabinda received a $1 million signing bonus and has base salaries of $1.035 million in 2022 and $1.9 million in 2023. He can earn $100,000 each year for making the Pro Bowl, and has per-game roster bonuses totaling $100,000 plus a $65,000 workout bonus in 2023.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions want Tracy Walker back; franchise tag unlikely