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Lions cornerback Rashean Mathis has signed a two-year deal to return to the team.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- Detroit Lions cornerback Rashean Mathis will turn 35 years old before the start of next season, but he's nowhere close to thinking about retirement.

"Everyone keeps throwing up one more (season)," he said after the Lions were eliminated from the playoffs in January. "(But) I think I've shown I have a lot left in my body."

The Lions wanted him back, but the free agent cornerback was holding out for a second year. Once he started drawing interest from multiple teams, he was able to get it.

Mathis has agreed to a two-year deal with Detroit worth $3.5 million, according to ProFootballTalk. He will earn $2 million of that in 2015, according to the report.

That's a nice bump from the $1 million he made last season. And he certainly earned it.

Mathis started all 17 games in 2014, and showed he remained one of the most consistent corners in the game despite his advancing age. He picked off one pass, defended another nine and finished the season ranked as the 12th-best corner in the league according to ProFootballFocus.

He was sixth best among those who played at least 75 percent of their team's defensive snaps.

Darius Slay is expected to become the Lions' No. 1 corner in his third season with the team, but Detroit still needed a batterymate for him, and Mathis is an ideal fit because of his familiarity with the scheme, as well as his willingness to tutor the younger Slay.

Mathis came to the Lions as an unheralded signing in the middle of training camp in 2013, but moved into the starting lineup in Week 3 of that year once Slay hit some rookie struggles. He hasn't left the starting lineup since, and has been willing to work with Slay along the way.

Slay's rapid improvement, from an overwhelmed rookie in 2013 to a rising star in 2014, can be partly ascribed to Mathis' mentorship. And it appears that tandem will return intact for another season, giving Detroit some consistency in the back end of a defense that is experiencing some turnover up front.

Mathis is the seventh free agent to re-sign with Detroit, following kicker Matt Prater, linebacker Josh Bynes, quarterback Dan Orlovsky, quarterback Kellen Moore, defensive end Darryl Tapp and long-snapper Don Muhlbach.

The Lions are also bringing back return man Jeremy Ross, who was an exclusive rights free agent, and have tendered restricted free agent defensive end George Johnson. They've acquired two players from outside the organization in defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (via trade) and defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker.

Detroit now has about $4 million cap space left, not including what it will have to pay its incoming draft class. With the starting cornerback spots set, its top remaining needs are offensive guard, defensive tackle, receiver, tailback and maybe offensive tackle.

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