The Detroit Lions had a chance to dive deep into the free-agent cornerback market, but they decided their best option was to keep their own best player.
Chris Houston has agreed to terms to return to the Lions, a source told NFL.com's Ian Rapoport. Houston was one of our top 20 free agents available on the entire market, and there wasn't much room separating him and other top free agents like Brent Grimes, Sean Smith, Antoine Winfield and Aqib Talib.
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"I'm just happy that I have a home, a place to go and finish out my career," Houston told the Detroit Free Press.
The entire cornerback market hasn't received the money it expected right away. It's possible that a lot of the cornerbacks are waiting for the Darrelle Revis domino to drop before the rest of the market finds home. Only Greg Toler and Bradley Fletcher found deals Tuesday.
The Lions have struggled in the secondary for years, but Houston has been their best defensive player since coach Jim Schwartz arrived in town. This was a low-profile, smart move. Now the Lions will try to lock up some higher-profile moves with running back Reggie Bush and Glover Quin also visiting town Wednesday.
UPDATE: According to Yahoo! Sports, Houston's deal is for $25 million over five years. He'll receive $15.5 million over the first three years. The Lions signed Bush to a four-year contract and Quin received a five-year deal.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.