Getty Chad Hansen and Deshaun Watson shake hands playing the Lions.
The Detroit Lions continue to move players in and out as the offseason progresses, and the newest addition to the team has a history with Jared Goff.
Friday afternoon, the Lions revealed they had signed wide receiver Chad Hanson to a contract. As part of the deal, the Lions released wideout Jonathan Adams from the roster, a player who had been signed to the roster after the 2021 NFL Draft as a free agent.
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Hanson has a connection with Goff from their time at Cal where he was a wideout for the team and a player that had become known for the speed he showed while on the field. Goff and Hanson still work out during offseasons, so that chemistry will be built-in as he comes to the roster.
Hanson’s Stats and Highlights
Hanson started his collegiate career at Idaho State, and after a year there, transferred to Cal. While with the Golden Bears and Goff, Hanson put up a solid 1,498 yards and 12 touchdowns en-route to becoming a first-team All-PAc-12 in 2016. He became a noteworthy player thanks to his ability to get up and down the field for the Bears, and as a result, he put himself on NFL radars. In the 2017 NFL Draft, Hanson was a fourth-round pick of the New York Jets.
From the Jets, Hanson went to the New England Patriots in 2018, then signed with the Tennessee Titans in 2018, joined the Denver Broncos shortly after that, signed with the New Orleans Saints in 2019, then landing with the Houston Texans in 2019 and 2020. In the NFL, Hanson hasn’t put up huge stats, but does have 330 yards and 1 touchdown to his credit on 26 catches.
In terms of highlights, Hanson made his biggest impact in the league so far in Houston as this shows.
Hansen has some interesting possibilities for this roster when everything is considered.
Lions Working on Fixing Wideout Depth
The Lions came into the offseason in an unsure position in terms of their wide receiver depth, but during free agency, have taken some steps to make some decent upgrades to the position. Detroit signed wideouts Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman to short-term deals in free agency, and with the addition of Damion Ratley and Kalif Raymond, could be in good position to ensure that they have depth ahead of the NFL Draft, where the team is expected to be active hunting for wideout talent for the future.
Detroit’s 2021 draft was not very active in terms of wideout, but the team did add Amon-Ra St. Brown to the team as well as a few priority wideouts like Sage Surratt. They also have players still on the roster like Quintez Cephus and Tom Kennedy looking to make a jump. Though Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola were major talents, it seems the tam has already taken an aggressive approach in looking for their replacements and adding a few younger options to the mix.
Hanson may now have an inside track to the roster given his connection with Goff, so it will be interesting to see if he manages to stick around for the long run given this fact.
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