The Detroit Lions are looking for some potential pass rush help from a more northerly Lion. According to TSN’s Farhan Lalji, Detroit is signing CFL standout Mathieu Betts from the British Columbia Lions.
Betts, 28, set the Canadian Football League record for sacks in a season with his 18 in 2023. That earned Betts the Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2023. He racked up 25 total sacks in two seasons for the BC Lions.
He is a product of Laval and participated in the 2019 Shrine Game, earning an undrafted rookie shot with the Chicago Bears. After being cut that summer, he went back home to Canada.
It took some time for Betts to blossom. He had just two sacks in his first two seasons in the CFL with the Edmonton Elks before moving onto the Lions.
Clarification on this, he’s signing as a free agent as opposed to a futures deal, since the #SuperBowl has now past. But ultimately it’s the same result
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) February 13, 2024
Terms of the deal are not yet known, other than it is a free agent signing to the actual roster and not a reserve/future contract, per Lalji and the CFL’s own website.
