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The Detroit Lions made a move early into the NFL tampering window officially opening, and it was the move everyone wanted.

The Lions have signed former Panthers Center Cade Mays to a three-year, $25 million deal, averaging $8.3 million per season.

Mays, 26, is a young, solid option for the middle of Detroit’s offense. He’s not Tyler Linderbaum, but there’s a reason Linderbaum is going to get $25+ million per year.

While Mays’ PFF numbers might not be overwhelmingly positive, receiving a 62.4 overall, 58.4 run blocking, and 69.4 pass blocking grades. However, Mays is still very young and has room to grow. He also wasn’t a part of a great offensive line in Carolina. He had 0 sacks allowed, only 2 penalties, and allowed just 11 pressures, which ranked 9th among all centers.

Mays is a definite upgrade over Glasgow. We will have to see just how big of an upgrade it is though. It is nice to see his solid pass blocking numbers, as Goff has a lot of issues when facing pressure up the middle. I would like a little better run blocking, but I believe he will get better with Hank Fraley as his position coach.

Obviously, this isn’t a superstar center, but he’s a young, consistent option that came at a relatively low price. I much prefer this to moving Ratledge from right guard, where he played very well as a rookie.

Most Lions fans wanted Tyler Linderbaum, but he just got paid $81 million over three years, averaging $27 million per year. For those wondering, that’s $2 million more in just one season than the Lions will pay Mays over his entire career.

Overall, I am happy, but not blown away by the addition. Snagging a legitimate starting center for less than market value will give us more money to work with when signing other positions.

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