All the Detroit Lions: Betts Confident He’ll Make the Final Roster

The Detroit Lions added a talented defender to their roster early in the offseason in Mathieu Betts.
The reigning CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player signed a free agent contract with the Lions earlier in the week and will compete for a roster position moving into the 2024 season.

Betts has had one previous NFL chance, signing as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears in 2019. After being unable to break the final roster out of training camp, he took his talents to the CFL, where he was able to carve himself a respectable career.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to be able to compete and to try to make that roster, and I feel like I have a really good chance of doing it,” Betts said, via 3DownNation. “Especially in the NFL, that’s the roster we were most confident that I could crack. It was the first exercise that I performed this off-season, and the camaraderie, the atmosphere, and the discussions I’ve had with the folks there simply seemed right.”

According to Hodge, Betts had other NFL offers that gave guaranteed money but elected to bypass those and sign with Detroit.

Betts went and worked out for the team in December, and she felt comfortable with the connection. After negotiating the contract through the early part of the summer, he believes he’ll be a good match for Detroit’s defense.

“They saw my strength on film, and it’s something that they really valued and that fit their group in terms of working hard,” Betts added. “The one thing they told me that popped off the film is that they saw somebody who was working hard, and after they got that box checked, then they started looking at different athletic capacities and football capacities.”