Note: This is an opinion piece by MLive.com's Nate Atkins

ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions haven't yet rewarded Glover Quin with a new contract, haven't yet extended their 31-year-old free safety who didn't miss a play last year, but it's starting to feel like a formality.

They haven't even tempted themselves with any alternatives.

As the Lions grind away on a long-term extension for Matthew Stafford that could make their franchise quarterback the richest player in NFL history, their ongoing talks with their free safety are a clear second priority. They're set to have the most cap space in the NFL for 2018, according to OverTheCap.com, and summer is the time that teams like to lock up their building blocks.

Like with Stafford, the Lions have committed to building a unit around Quin and not for the off chance he might actually leave. They found some toys for their leader on the back end in the form of free-agent nickel cornerback D.J. Hayden and second-round Florida cornerback Teez Tabor. They went light in fixing a pass rush that ranked 30th in sacks, hoping that Quin's unit could elevate the play of nondescript players up front.

Entering the final season of a five-year $23.5 million deal, Quin isn't just a piece of an 11-man defense. He mans the role that is central to Teryl Austin's Cover-4 scheme. A former defensive back, the Lions defensive coordinator has built his approach around forcing long drives that stall out, which means selling out to stop any threat of a big play. He plays two high safeties, and the free man is the deepest one. A good one will use clear angles to the ball carrier to cover lots of ground in run support.

A 2014 Pro Bowler, Quin strikes that balance exceptionally well, posting 68 tackles last season while leading a defense that surrendered just six passing plays of 40 yards or more, tied for fifth in the NFL. He was the only defender in the league to play every single snap despite being on the wrong side of 30 in a game with increasing speed.

Entering a contract year, he presents a question organizations sometimes face about what kind of clock to place on a player who defies the effects of aging. How much leash do you give an anomaly when Father Time remains undefeated?

Quin turned 31 in January, and while he's shown no signs of slowing down, contracts are projections into the unknown. NFL safeties have shown to get old in a hurry in today's NFL, which challenges their speed more and more with the growth of vertical slot receivers. The league has some exceptions, such as Reggie Nelson of the Raiders, who reached his first two Pro Bowls as a roaming free safety at the ages of 32 and 33. But even he has come with a management plan, with the Raiders drafting safeties to bump him from the free spot over to the strong before he'll eventually hand over both positions.

The Lions have foregone any such plans for Quin. They didn't add a single safety this offseason despite the departure of part-time starter Rafael Bush. They had chance after chance to draft one for Quin to groom. The availability of Connecticut's long and rangy Obi Melinfonwu in the second round seemed like a fit almost too good to be true, and perhaps it was, as the Lions went with Tabor instead.

They're still counting on Quin to develop younger players. He's going to continue to work with 2016 fourth-round pick Miles Killebrew, who could challenge Tavon Wilson to start opposite him this year. Quin will also be instrumental in the transition Alex Carter is attempting from cornerback to safety.

"He's one of those individuals that I think has been through all the battles and had an opportunity to see a lot of different teams," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. "Really good understanding of the concepts that we teach from a defensive standpoint, but he can also instruct very well."

With three cornerbacks and two safeties entering contract years, the Lions drafted two players for future needs at the former and none at the latter. It could be a function of having too many needs to address in what was only Bob Quinn's second offseason as general manager.

It could also speak to just how little of a need they see at free safety for the present and the foreseeable future. Quin might be 31, but his extension shouldn't be treated like an if anymore.