Lions Sign Free Agent QB Jon Kitna

Allen Park, Mich.- The Detroit Lions announced today that they have signed unrestricted free agent QB Jon Kitna to a four-year deal. Additional contract terms

Allen Park, Mich.- The Detroit Lions announced today that they have signed unrestricted free agent QB Jon Kitna to a four-year deal. Additional contract terms were not disclosed.

Kitna (6-2, 225) joins the Lions after spending the last four years with the Cincinnati Bengals. While in Cincinnati he played a crucial role in the Bengals current success. After going 12 seasons with 11 seasons below .500 and one 8-8 season, Kitna engineered a run to compete for a playoff spot in 2003. That season, he posted career highs in completions (324), completion percentage (62.3), passing yards (3,591), touchdown passes (26) and passing rating (87.4) as he led the team to an 8-8 record while starting all 16 games. The year prior, the Bengals finished the season with a 2-14 record.

For his performance in 2003, Kitna was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year by the Associated Press and Pro football Weekly. He was the only quarterback in the NFL in '03 to take every snap. He led the team to an NFL-best improvement from 2-14 in 2002 to 8-8 in 2003. Kitna also had a
plus-11 differential in touchdown passes (26) to interceptions (15) that was the best by a Bengals passer with at least 20 passes since 1989.

The next season, Kitna assumed the role of backup mentor for Carson Palmer, the first overall selections in the 2003 NFL Draft. In 2004, he did replace Palmer as the starter in final three games and had a 2-1 record.

This past season, Kitna replaced Palmer during the first series of the Bengals Wild Card Game against Pittsburgh January 8 after Palmer suffered a knee injury. Kitna was 24-of-40 (60.0 pct) for 197 yards and one touchdown in the playoff game.

Through nine seasons in the NFL, Kitna has amassed tallies of 1,667-of-2,837 passing (68.6 pct.) for 18,259, 108 touchdowns and a passing rating of 75.3.

Kitna began his career with the Seattle Seahawks after the team signed him as an undrafted rookie free agent April 25, 1996. During his first full season as a starter in 1999, Kitna led the Seahawks to the playoffs for the first time since 1988. In 15 starts that year, he was 259-of-495 passing for 3,346 yards, and garnered 23 touchdown passes and a 77.7 passing rating.

While in college, Kitna was a first-team NAIA All-American as a senior at Central Washington. He started 14 games and led the Wildcats to the NAIA Championship game, as he completed 364-of-576 passes for 4,616 yards and 42 touchdowns. During his college career, he had 17 games over 300 yards and threw nearly twice as many touchdowns (93) to interceptions (47) over his last three seasons.