Lions Adding Logical Kalif Raymond Replacement With Ties To New Coach

According to NFL Network, the Detroit Lions are signing former Cardinals wide receiver Greg Dortch to a one-year deal.

Dortch was a very common projected free agent target for the Lions as a natural replacement for Kalif Raymond, who signed with the Chicago Bears this offseason after five seasons in Detroit. Dortch not only has a lot of the same skills as Raymond—with great explosiveness and a ton of returner experience—but he also comes to Detroit after spending the last five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, working under now-Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.

Our own Al Karsten highlighted Dortch as a potential bargain-bin option at wide receiver this free agency. Here’s his short profile on Dortch:

Dortch is an undersized gadget player who has familiarity with Drew Petzing designing touches for him.

After going undrafted, Dortch bounced between four teams via waivers and practice squads before carving out a role with the Cardinals.

He provides immense value as both a punt and kick returner and shares many similarities with Kalif Raymond as a space player capable of creating explosive plays.

Over the last four seasons, Dortch has been a reserve receiver, playing in 61 games and starting 15. He’s tallied at least 200 receiving yards and 24 catches in each season, with a career high in 2022 (52 catches, 467 yards). As a returner, he’s returned at least 16 punts in each of the last four years, and last year he served as one of the Cardinals’ two kick returners under the new rule. He ended up taking 31 kickoffs for 811 yards and an average of 26.2 yards per return—ranking 15th among all kick returners with at least 22 returns and just above the 25.9 league average.

In Detroit, Dortch will likely compete with Dominic Lovett for the WR4 role and one of the return specialists.

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