Detroit Lions Host Free Agent Jay Tufele For Visit

The Detroit Lions brought in another NFL free agent for a visit ahead of the NFL draft.

On Tuesday, the NFL transaction wire showed that the Lions hosted defensive tackle Jay Tufele for a visit. Tufele spent last season with the New York Jets and has played five total NFL seasons.

Prior to landing in New York, Tufele also had stints with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals. He began his career with the Jaguars in 2021, then spent the next three years with the Bengals.

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This visit marks the second defensive tackle to meet with the Lions recently, as Isaiahh Loudermilk also came to Detroit for a visit last week.

Tufele has appeared in 46 career games in his five seasons, making seven starts in that time frame. He made two starts in 12 appearances last year for the Jets, and he totaled 12 combined tackles on the season.

The veteran had his season shut down early, as he suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 16. Prior to that, he served as a rotational defensive tackle for former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn's Jets.

Via Pro Football Focus' metrics, Tufele earned a 51.0 overall defensive grade for the 2025 season. He also had a 55.8 run defense grade, and a 28.3 tackling grade last year, totaling 229 defensive snaps played.

Tufele spent most of his time on the defensive interior, though he did play 57 snaps at defensive end on either the right or left side last year.

Detroit has traditionally deployed a bigger defender on the end opposite of Pro Bowl EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, so there could be potential for the Lions to view Tufele as a fit for that role in certain packages.

Detroit has dealt with some roster overhaul throughout free agency this offseason. DJ Reader, the team's starting nose tackle the last two seasons, remains unsigned, and rotational contributor Roy Lopez inked a new contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the EDGE position saw Al-Quadin Muhammad depart for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Detroit countered by signing a pair of players, D.J. Wonnum and Payton Turner, to one-year deals.

The Lions have a pair of contributors returning to their defensive interior in Alim McNeill and Tyleik Williams.

McNeill is looking for a bounce-back season after rehabbing a torn ACL for the first six games of last year, while Williams is hoping for increased production after playing a limited role as a rookie last season.