Detroit stole Justin Coleman from Seattle in free agency this offseason. On Tuesday, the Lions sent a defensive back of their own to the Pacific Northwest.
The Lions are trading starting safety Quandre Diggs and a 2021 seventh-round pick to Seattle in exchange for a 2020 fifth-round pick, sources told NFL Network's Tom Pelissero on Tuesday. Detroit later confirmed the swap.
A fifth-year veteran with three years left on a new deal in Detroit signed just one season ago, Diggs had started five of six games this season for the Lions. The safety missed their Week 6 loss to the Green Bay Packers with a hamstring injury. He played 55 snaps in his return Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
Over his four-plus seasons in the Motor City, Diggs started 40 of 65 games played, recording three picks and at least eight passes defensed in each of the last two seasons.
Next Sunday, however, he'll be wearing a different shade of blue, playing for the Seahawks in Atlanta.
Diggs joins a young but emerging Seahawks secondary that features rising talents in Shaquill Griffin, Tre Flowers, Marquise Blair, Tedric Thompson and Bradley McDougald.
Detroit will move on with Tavon Wilson likely sliding into Diggs' role in the secondary. But not all Lions will get past this decision so quickly. Diggs' defensive backfield mate Darius Slay expressed immediate displeasure with his teammate's trade, and given the safety's supposed security with the team, he likely isn't the only one shocked by Diggs' departure.
