The New England Patriots said goodbye to fan favorite and human wrecking ball, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, this offseason after 11 years and two Super Bowl victories. While there's still a possibility of Wilfork returning after sufficiently testing the NFL's free agent waters, New England has begun perusing contingency plans should the mammoth tackle, in fact, sign elsewhere.
According to the latest reports, head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots brain trust may have targeted his potential replacement in Detroit.
"The Providence Journal has learned that the Patriots are showing interest in defensive tackle Nick Fairley," reports Mark Daniels of The Journal.
With Wilfork and his nearly $9 million cap hit and Darrelle Revis and his $13 million cap hit and $20 million contract option officially off the books in New England, Belichick and the Pats have some money to spend and holes to fill in free agency.
Fairley, 27, was the former 13th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft for the Lions. He's never played a full 16-game season in his five-year NFL career - he appeared in only eight last season - so injuries are certainly a concern.
Fairley has also delt with weight problems - he ballooned to 320-pounds during the 2013 season but finished the year closer to 290 - leading the Lions to decline the fifth-year option on his contract last season and now decide they'd had enough.
"The Lions have told multiple people that they are no longer interested in re-signing Fairley, whose injury and weight issues have been a concern for years," reports Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press.
Fairley posted his best statistical seasons in 2012 and 2013, totaling 5.5 and six sacks respectively. Of course, those numbers came while playing alongside All-Pro Ndamukong Suh, so there's no certainty Fairley would be able to reproduce those figures in New England.
Still, Fairley would potentially represent a low-risk, high-reward signing - he's still a player with plenty of upside and it's entirely possible that playing in Suh's shadow for the entirety of his NFL career kept him from really blossoming.