The Detroit Lions are adding some tight end depth. According to his agency, the Lions are signing former Chargers tight end Tyler Conklin to a one-year deal.
Conklin is an eight-year veteran with 127 career game appearances and 69 total starts. He most recently spent a season with the Los Angeles Chargers, playing in 13 games and five starts. It was a rough season for him, posting just seven catches for 101 yards—and serving as a healthy scratch a handful of times.
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However, prior to that, Conklin had produced at least 50 catches and 449 receiving yards in four straight seasons, three with the Jets and one with the Vikings. Speaking of the Vikings, Conklin overlapped with current Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing in Minnesota in 2018 and 2019 when Petzing was the team’s assistant quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach.
Conklin also has local ties. He grew up in Chesterfield, Michigan, and went to Central Michigan University.
As a player, he’s got strong hands, decent production as a receiver, and has a good history of grading out well in pass protection. He’s earned a 66 or higher PFF pass blocking grade in five of his eight seasons, including each of his last three years.
We identified Conklin as one of our tight end “best fits” in this year’s free agency class. Here’s what we said about him in our tight end preview:
As for Conklin, he’s coming off a rough year with the Chargers. After three years of good production with the Jets, he managed just seven catches for 101 yards in LA, and was even a healthy scratch regularly toward the end of the season. A change of scenery would do him well, and reuniting with Petzing, who overlapped with Conklin for two years with the Vikings in 2018-19, could be just the landing spot he needs.
In Detroit, Conklin could compete with Brock Wright for the Lions’ TE2 spot or provide some insurance while starter Sam LaPorta continues to rehab from his back injury.
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