ALLEN PARK -- A lot has been made of the Jesse James signing. And make no mistake, he’ll be a fixture at tight end this season.

But he isn’t the only tight end Detroit added either.

The Lions also signed Logan Thomas to a one-year deal, and believe he could be an under-the-radar signing that helps bolster the depth at a position group that has given them some fits.

“Great example of another guy who is an outstanding player,” head coach Matt Patricia said last week. "Tough guy. Played at Buffalo. Played for a guy, Brian Daboll, who I worked with before. So kind of that same mentality -- a gritty, grind-it-out kid. Loves the game. Extremely athletic."

Patricia has really emphasized bringing in not only good players this offseason, but players with whom he’s familiar. After the culture wars of last season, with some Jim Caldwell holdovers slow to adapt to the new order of things, Patricia wants guys he knows will fit his coaching style. And while Thomas has never personally worked with Patricia, he is familiar with this administration.

Thomas played quarterback at Virginia Tech and gave the position a go his first two-plus seasons in the league. But after failed stints with the Cardinals, Giants and Dolphins, he decided to give tight end a try. He has the size for it, at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.61 seconds at the combine in 2014. That would have placed third among the tight ends at this year’s combine.

And the Lions were the first team to sign him at that position, adding him to the practice squad in the middle of the 2016 season.

“They put a good plan together for the rest of the season, and going into the offseason,” Thomas said after arriving in Detroit that year, Bob Quinn’s first as GM. “And hopefully by the spring, I’ll have a pretty decent grasp (of the position).”

Spring? Heck, he didn’t make it through a single practice before the Bills poached him.

Thomas played in 12 games each of the last two years for Buffalo, catching a combined 19 passes for 140 yards and one touchdown. That’s marginal production, but the Lions still see upside in Thomas’ game, and hope their offense can bring it out.

“Obviously a very good athlete,” Quinn said. "We actually had him on our practice squad for I think it was like a day, right? Then Buffalo came after him. I remember having him in my office trying to convince him to stay on our practice squad. But usually, 99 percent of those go the other way. That was when he was really first transitioning to tight end.

“I always kind of circled back and watched him the last couple years in Buffalo and thought it was a good second-wave guy to kind of add depth to that position. We don’t think he’s hit his ceiling. We think he’s still got some room to improve at, both in the run and pass game.”

The Lions have put in a lot of work this offseason at tight end, where production really cratered without Eric Ebron last year. Luke Willson was billed as a guy who was ready for a breakout season, but proved to be a seismic bust, catching just 13 passes for 87 yards and no touchdowns. Now he’s gone, and blocking tight end Levine Toiolo too. The only returner with any kind of experience is Michael Roberts, a talented player who hasn’t shown much in two seasons.

Now the Lions have created some new competition at the position, signing the versatile James to lead the way, with Thomas, Roberts, Jerome Cunningham and a possible draft pick competing for jobs behind him.

“Like we tell all our guys, your role will be what you make it,” Patricia said when asked about his tight ends. "You have an opportunity to come in, and that’s why competition is so important to us all the way through from the spring to training camp. More so than scheme, it’s about competition, it’s about finding out about what they do well so that when we really dive into the scheme part of it, we can fit their skill-set into a scheme.

“It doesn’t really matter what the scheme is. But what we do need to know is, what do they do well? And how can they help us win? That’s the most important part.”