Skip to main content
Advertising

Around the League

Presented By

Lions sign Dan Orlovsky to back up Matthew Stafford

The Detroit Lions are bringing back the man most famous for running out the back of his own end zone.

Free-Agent Tracker

NFL-131103-IA.jpg

Follow all the developments on the NFL's open market with our up-to-the-minute tracking of 2014's free agents. **More...**

The Lions and veteran quarterback Dan Orlovsky struck a one-year contract Wednesday, according to the team's official website.

Orlovsky will back up Matthew Stafford after Shaun Hill signed with the St. Louis Rams. Kellen Moore and possibly a late-round draft pick also could be in the mix.

The match for Detroit is all about familiarity. Orlovsky spent four seasons in the last decade with Detroit and started five games in 2011 in Indianapolis for new Lions coach Jim Caldwell.

The Lions hope the 30-year-old signal-caller doesn't have to start -- unless they want to play for the No. 1 pick. The only seasons in which Orlovsky has started a game were for a Lions team that went 0-16 and a Colts team that went 2-14. In Orlovsky's nine seasons, he has been on one team that finished with a record over .500.

However, he always will be remembered in NFL lore for this tragic lack of awareness:

Sidenote: As a [Lions fan, I find this play a hilarious amalgam of years of pain. I get a sense this is what Jets fans feel like watching the Butt Fumble.]

The latest "Around The League Podcast" welcomes NFL Media's Jeff Darlington to the studio, reacts to the DeSean Jackson signing and discusses big-name veterans still looking for new teams.

This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an issue.

Related Content