Detroit Lions re-sign former Alabama linebacker ahead of NFL free agency

NFL’s legal tampering period officially opened at 12 noon ET on Monday, and teams around the league are already making tons of moves in preparation of free agency on Wednesday. One of the moves across the league came from Detroit, as the Lions have re-signed former Alabama linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton.

In addition to Dion Hamilton, the Lions made a couple of other moves on Monday.

“#Lions have re-signed Safety C.J. Moore, LB Alex Anzalone, S Jalen Elliott, LB Shaun Dion Hamilton,” NFL reporter Dov Kleiman tweeted.

Dion Hamilton first entered the league in 2018, when he was selected in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft by Washington. In three years with Washington, he racked up 97 combined tackles, seven tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, one interception, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery across 46 games, seven of which were starts.

In 2021, Washington waived Dion Hamilton, and the Lions claimed him. He missed this past season with an injury, but the Lions clearly wanted him to come back for another season.

Dion Hamilton wasn’t the only former SEC linebacker that the Lions brought back. Alex Anzalone was also re-signed. Anzalone played for Florida, and was a 2017 third round pick by the New Orleans Saints. He signed with the Lions in free agency last offseason, and totaled 78 tackles in his first year with Detroit as a key part of the defense.

The Lions signed two more in addition to Dion Hamilton, Anzalone

C.J. Moore is a defensive back out of Ole Miss that has been with the Lions for three seasons. Last year, he racked up 22 total tackles with one interception and another pass defended. Finally, the Lions also brought back Jalen Elliott. Elliott, who played his college football at Notre Dame, was also undrafted. He spent last season bouncing back and forth on the Lions practice squad.

The NFL’s free agent frenzy is rapidly ramping up. The moves on Monday are just leading up to the official start of free agency on Wednesday. While the Lions have brought back some of their own, including Dion Hamilton and Anzalone, the team is likely far from being done in this offseason, especially with the second overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.