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The Lions are interested in bringing back Rashean Mathis, but he's drawing interest from other teams as well.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- Darrelle Revis signed with the Jets. Byron Maxwell signed with the Eagles.

Brandon Flowers re-upped with the Chargers, and Kareem Jackson did the same with the Texans. Antonio Cromartie bolted for the Jets, and Chris Culliver did the same with Washington.

Those were six of the best cornerbacks to hit free agency. Each has a new deal.

And that leaves Rashean Mathis among the best players available on the open market.

The Detroit Lions still needs to acquire a cornerback to start opposite Darius Slay, and general manager Martin Mayhew has said he's interested in bringing back Mathis for a third season.

But Mathis is drawing interest from several other teams, according to a source, and currently weighing his options for 2015 and beyond.



Mathis, 34, has been one of the Lions' steadiest players since joining the franchise during training camp in 2013. He helped steady a shaky secondary by moving into the starting lineup that year, then started all 17 games last year.

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 whop layer at least 75 percent of their team's defensive snaps.

And he did it all while playing under a modest one-year, $1 million contract.

Mathis was one of the Lions' best values, and the team likely looking for another bargain year with only about $5.5 million left in cap space and a draft class still to sign. But it looks a as though they'll have some competition for his services.

He'll turn 35 during training camp, but says he has at least two good seasons left in him.

"Everyone keeps throwing up one more," Mathis said after the season. "I think I've shown I have a lot left in my body. Of course I don't want to play until the wheels fall off. That's never been my aim, but I think we have something special here."

If the Lions strike out on Mathis, other free-agent options could include Green Bay's Tramon Williams (who reportedly visited Cleveland over the weekend), Philadelphia's Bradley Fletcher, New York Jets' Kyle Wilson and New Orleans' Patrick Robinson.

Otherwise they will have to turn to the bottom rung of free agency or the draft. Though it's worth noting rookie corners are rarely any good in their first seasons.

Detroit still has cornerbacks Bill Bentley and Nevin Lawson under contract, but they are probably best suited for the nickel.

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