Tracy Walker had other options as an unrestricted free agent. The safety is coming off a 108-tackle season where he also logged six PDs and raised his level of overall play. But Walker decided he wanted to stay in Detroit and help be a part of the rising Lions tide.
Walker admitted on Tuesday, the day he agreed to a new three-year contract with the Lions, that he considered Detroit the best option all along. The 27-year-old safety relayed a conversation with his agent about his free agency choices.
“He was like, ‘T, I got teams here, what you want to do?'” Walker told reporters on Tuesday. “And I was just looking at him, and I said, ‘You know what, I think Detroit is where I’m going to be back at.’ And he was like, ‘You sure?’ And I’m just like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to Detroit. F it.’ ‘All right, cool. We’re going back to Detroit.'”
A reasonable person might question why Walker wanted to return to a 3-13-1 team that is still near the beginning of a massive overhaul. He had a very easy answer at the ready for that very question.
“My coaching staff. I believe in them,” Walker said. “I believe in these guys. That had a huge role in me wanting to come back. I believe in everything these guys stand for and what they’re all about. We’re all on the same agenda. We all want to win. I been here four years. I’m tired of losing in Detroit. Coaches feel the same. They’re tired of seeing Detroit being a laughingstock in the NFL.”
Walker agreed to a new three-year, $25 million contract to put his money where his heart is — back in Detroit to be a part of creating a winner.
