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Detroit Lions sign CFL sack leader Mathieu Betts to help pass rush
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- Detroit Lions sign CFL sack leader Mathieu Betts to help pass rush
The Detroit Lions are going international to find help for their pass rush.
The Lions signed Canadian Football League star Mathieu Betts to a contract Tuesday, adding the league's Most Outstanding Defensive Player to their defensive line.
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Betts had 18 sacks in 18 games for the B.C. Lions last season. He set a new single-season record for sacks by a Canadian-born player and picked the Lions over a contract offer from one other NFL team and several CFL suitors.
"He had offers in both leagues and ultimately the fit in Detroit, they've had continued interest in him ever since he worked out for them," Betts agent, Sasha Ghavami, told the Free Press. "There's a really good fit. I think he fits the type of player they look for in terms of high-energy, high-motor, going to give it his all. And I think for him it was another opportunity to go in the NFL and make your way through it. He's confident in his abilities and I think he just wants the opportunity."
The Lions finished 22nd in the NFL in sack rate this season and got little production from their edge rush group outside of Aidan Hutchinson .
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Hutchinson led the Lions with 11.5 sacks and defensive tackle Alim McNeill finished second on the team with five. No other defensive end had more than two sacks, and James Houston , who was ticketed for a situational pass rush role going into the season, went sack-less and missed all but two games because of injury.
Veteran pass rushers Romeo Okwara (two sacks), Julian Okwara (two) and Charles Harris (1.5) will be unrestricted free agents in March.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes acknowledged at his end-of-season news conference last week the Lions would be looking for a partner to pair with Hutchinson this offseason, but likely would not be big spenders in free agency.
Detroit Lions' Aidan Hutchinson celebrates with teammates after winning a tug-of-war challenge during the NFL Pro Bowl Games at Camping World Stadium on Feb. 4, 2024 in Orlando.
"I know everybody wants everything to be paired," Holmes said. "You have a Pro Bowl pass rusher that (had) double-digit sacks and 100 pressures. Everybody wants to pair the pass rusher with somebody. You have a D-tackle that was on his way before he got hurt to, potentially, a Pro Bowl season, sacks. You want to pair him with that guy. You have a promising young safety, you want to pair him with – everybody wants to, and trust me, that's what we want, too. We want the same thing."
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Betts, who turns 29 in March, played collegiately at Laval University in Quebec City and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears in 2019. He played for the Edmonton Eskimos in 2019 and again in 2021, after COVID cancelled the 2020 CFL season, and spent the past two seasons with the BC Lions.
Betts worked out for three NFL teams in December – the Detroit Lions , Cleveland Browns , and Buffalo Bills – but was not eligible to sign until after the Super Bowl.
He had nine sacks in his first three CFL seasons and forced four fumbles last year.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions sign CFL sack leader Mathieu Betts to help pass rush
