In a season of struggles for the 2018 Detroit Lions, defensive end Romeo Okwara was still able to stand out.
Given an opportunity to showcase his skills under first-year coach Matt Patricia, Okwara did just that with a career-best season and he's been rewarded by the Lions.
Okwara and the Lions agreed to a two-year contract, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Friday, per a source informed of the situation. Pelissero added that the deal averages more than a second-round restricted free-agent tender number, with incentives on top.
Starting a career-high 14 games in his first season in Detroit, Okwara produced 7.5 sacks, 39 tackles, eight tackles for a loss and 14 quarterback hits -- all career-highs in his third season in the NFL. His sack and QB hits numbers led the Lions.
After two uneventful seasons with the New York Giants, Okwara was waived by Big Blue and acquired by Detroit just a few days ahead of the season opener.
Bright spots for the Lions were few and far between as they went 6-10, but the 23-year-old was one of them and they have now locked up a young and surprising contributor for the next two years.
