It’s hard to find someone who is a difference maker at this point of the offseason on the free agency market, but surprisingly enough, a defensive tackle like Sedrick Ellis, coming off five season with the New Orleans Saints, is still available, with the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears interested in adding him.

Not that Ellis is going to be a starter. His specificity in his position – three-technique role he prefers to stay in, made it harder for him to find a team, but the Bears and Lions both have depth issue at the position and a little bit of money left to spend, so the Super Bowl winner might still find himself a team.

The Bears have Henry Melton and Stephen Paea starting for them at DT, although Paea’s position might be up for grabs if Ellis shows impressive form once he’s signed. For the Lions, it’s Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley who own the starting positions, but then again, it’s going to be a lot more about adding depth than finding someone to start right away.

Ellis is a former first-round pick (2008) for the Saints, playing in 70 games for the team since being drafted, including 47 starts over the last three years. He has 12.5 career sacks, but only 0.5 over the last couple of seasons, struggling to add a little pass-rushing to his run clogging roles recently.

He’s not an injury risk (although he did miss nine games during the first two years in the NFL, but he’s just very narrow in terms of the things he has to offer on the field, which makes it very hard for a team to find a spot for him, especially with Ellis himself also being quite picky about where he goes next and what kind of position he’ll be used in.

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