Sam Greenwood/Getty Images Trey Flowers lines up during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 18, 2020.
Former Detroit Lions defensive end Trey Flowers is headed back to where his NFL career started.
The Associated Press reported on August 8 that the free-agent pass rusher signed with the New England Patriots. Flowers was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, playing the first four seasons of his career in New England before signing with the Lions in 2019.
Flowers is coming off a significant injury and has signed what was described as a team-friendly deal as he tries to regain his old form.
Trey Flowers Struck by Injuries During Time in Detroit
As the report noted, Flowers was beset by injuries during his three seasons with the Lions, limiting him to 29 total games during that stretch.
Flowers had a total of 10.5 sacks during his time with the Lions before leaving in 2022 to join the Miami Dolphins. He was limited to four games with the Dolphins before being placed on injured reserve.
Flowers did see plenty of success during his time with the Patriots, After appearing in only one game his rookie season, he became a regular starter for the Patriots and made a total of 21 sacks over the following three seasons. Flowers became a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots, winning titles in 2016 and 2018.
Trey Flowers salary!
Trey Flowers:
$1.165M salary ($50K guaranteed)
Up to $510K in per-game bonuses
$825K in NLTBE incentives
Cap hit: $1.285M
$2.5M max value
As Bernd Buchmasser of SB Nation’s Pats Pulpit reported, Flowers agreed to a team-friendly deal that includes a base salary of $1.165 million with just $50,000 guaranteed.
“The 29-year-old, who helped the organization win a pair of Super Bowls during his first tenure from 2015 through 2018, signed a one-year contract earlier this week to return to his old stomping grounds,” Buchmasser reported.
“In order to do so, Flowers had to take a rather team-friendly contract — betting on himself to reach his previous levels of play again after a string of injuries derailed his stints with the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. A look at the full details of the agreement, as shared by ESPN’s Field Yates, illustrates this.”
Lions Loaded at Edge Rusher
After Flowers’ departure from Detroit, the Lions made some major investments into their pass-rushing corps, using a first-round pick on Aidan Hutchinson and a sixth on linebacker James Houston.
Hutchinson led all rookies with 9.5 sacks, adding three interceptions and 52 total tackles. Though Houston did not play until Week 12 as he started the season on the practice squad, he made a quick start with 8.0 total sacks through seven games.
The pair were a major part of the turnaround in Detroit, as the Lions bounced back from a 1-6 start to finish the season 9-8 and fall just short of the playoffs.
Hutchinson told CBS Sports reporter Jordan Dajani in February that he had even bigger aspirations for his second year with the team.
“This was a good year for the Lions,” Hutchinson said. “We made it over .500, and I’m very grateful for all the lessons learned, all of my development, but honestly, right now I’ve moved on to Year 2. I’m ready to be more than just over .500. I want to go to the playoffs, I want to go to the Super Bowl, I want a little ring on my finger here pretty soon. So that’s the goal, that’s the mission.”
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Ex-Lions DE Returns to Patriots on ‘Team-Friendly’ Deal