The Detroit Lions made arguably the biggest play for the biggest free agent in the NFL last offseason, snagging Trey Flowers away from the New England Patriots. But the move carries much risk for the team according to Bleacher Report.

According to writer Kristopher Knox, who put together a piece with all the biggest risks of the NFL offseason, the Lions biggest chance was signing Flowers to his mega-deal. Here's a look at why Knox says it's a move that fans should watch closely:

"Last season, the Detroit Lions didn't field the kind of championship-caliber defense that Matt Patricia is known for—so the franchise inked one of the head coach's former players.

Detroit signed defensive end Trey Flowers to a five-year, $90 million deal in free agency.

On one hand, the move appears solid. Flowers was one of the best and most versatile ends in the game last season, and he'll enter a familiar scheme under Patricia. On the other hand, there's no guarantee that his success over the last couple of years wasn't largely a product of the talent around him.

There is a history of Patriots players failing to find success with new teams. Just look at linebacker Jamie Collins, who was merely average after being traded to Cleveland.

Perhaps Flowers will give Patricia one of the pieces he needs to field a Patriots-style defense. Perhaps he won't be the same player outside of New England. Either way, the Lions took a big financial risk to find out."

The Lions like the fit of Flowers in not just their defense, but their overall team thanks to his personality and culture he will bring from the Patriots. Obviously, New England free agents have struggled outside the family, but the team thinks they are getting a player who can fit in with their locker room much in the same way he did with the Patriots. Obviously, Flowers is just as pumped to get started.

Speaking in a clip from the Lions, Flowers explains that he had been to Detroit before, and not merely for away games when he was playing with the New England Patriots through the last few years.

"It's a pretty nice city from what I've heard," Flowers says in a video to DetroitLions.com reporter Tori Petry with a smile. "Actually, I've been here a few times. My grandmother used to live up here, so I came to visit her a few times. My mom's got a lot of family here, so I'm excited to really be a resident here and see what it's about."

It wasn't merely blood family which drove Flowers to consider Detroit, but the family atmosphere in the Detroit locker room, too. Matt Patricia is running the show in Detroit now as the head coach, and that's a guy Flowers has a great deal of respect for. In the end, it made the choice of weighing Detroit's offer with his agent a lot easier this past week when the different opportunities presented themselves across the league.

"I knew Matty P was here, he's a guy who brought me into New England and developed me there, so that's when I kind of got the idea that it might be cool to be a Detroit Lion," he said.

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Specifically, it's clear that Flowers has a ton of respect for Patricia not just as a coach but as a man. As he said, there is so much more than meets the eye about the Lions' boss.

"He's a player's coach. He's a coach that's going to get a lot out of you. He's going to get the highest potential. He demands high standards of excellence," Flowers said. "Being in that building with him with the Patriots, just seeing how week in and week out he comes into the meeting rooms and just understanding that, you might have had a good play, but he needs you to have a great play. Then he'll talk to you about your personal life, get around to asking things about your family. He's an all around good guy and great coach."

The Lions think they have a good enough fit with Flowers to mitigate any of the major risk that come with any long term deal. As always, the proof will simply be on the field.