Why Safety Quandre Diggs Returning to Detroit Lions Should Be Intriguing for Defense

Should Lions pursue safety Quandre Diggs in the offseason?

Part of the reason the Detroit Lions' locker room was fractured and fell apart during the tenure of former head coach Matt Patricia was the manner in which players were treated. 

Leaders like safety Quandre Diggs and cornerback Darius Slay were insulted and reportedly made to feel their input about the defense wasn't warranted or needed. 

Former Lions general manager Bob Quinn traded Diggs and a 2021 seventh-round draft pick to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a 2020 fifth-round draft pick -- No. 172 overall -- before the trade deadline back in 2019.

Diggs, 28, has secured a career-best 82 tackles and five interceptions in 2021. 

"He's been a really steady force," Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said via the team's website. "He's been obvious. His hitting, his alley play in the running game. It's really as good as it gets, and he's a real ballhawk. He's just a really complete football player, and he's a very important leader, the guy back there calling the shots and directing traffic and all that. So, he's doing everything."

As a result, he recently earned his second consecutive Pro Bowl nod. 

For Detroit's defense, pairing Diggs with Tracy Walker could solidify the back end and give defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn another ballhawk to go to battle with on a weekly basis. 

"I have a contractual obligation for three more games, and my obligations are to the Seattle Seahawks," Diggs recently told reporters. "My job is to go out there every Sunday, go play my role, and do what I do, which is to protect the seams, protect the post, and go get interceptions like I have been doing since I've gotten here. That's all I'm worried about in this moment, it's not even January. So, I'm just here enjoying my time with my teammates, enjoying my time with my family and trying to be as healthy as I possibly can be."

© Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports