On the roster: Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, Avonte Maddox, Morice Norris, Loren Strickland, Erick Hallett, Dan Jackson, Ian Kennelly

Key losses: Ifeatu Melifonwu

Best competition: Fourth safety spot

Maddox was brought in to be the No. 3 safety and backup nickel cornerback having experience doing both the last seven years in Philadelphia with 81 career games and 41 starts under his belt. His versatility is a nice offseason addition for Detroit's defense.

Dan Campbell has typically kept at least four safeties on the roster coming out of training camp, and last year that number was five. The best competition at safety will be who rises into that fourth and potentially fifth spot.

Norris and Strickland combined to play nine games for the Lions last season, while Hallett spent most of the season on Detroit's practice squad after coming over from Jacksonville where he was a sixth-round pick by the Jaguars in 2023.

Jackson was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round of this year's NFL Draft and the team likes his skillset coming out of Georgia. Kennelly is an undrafted rookie out of Grand Valley State.

Twentyman's take: Joseph and Branch are arguably the best safety duo in the NFL after combining for 13 interceptions and 28 passes defended last season.

Joseph led the NFL with nine interceptions in 2024 and signed a lucrative four-year extension this offseason. His 17 interceptions since 2022 are the most in the NFL and he's the first Lions safety since Yale Larry in 1962 to earn First-Team All-Pro.

Branch is one of the most versatile and exciting defensive backs in the league and he earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2024. He recorded 109 tackles (79 solo), 16 passes defended, eight tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, four interceptions, a sack and one forced fumble last year. Talk about production.

The safety position is so important in Detroit's defense because of how much man coverage they play. This scheme, which isn't expected to change all that much under new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, allows for Joesph and Branch to play pretty free and make plays. Both have proven very capable of doing that.

Maddox's experience and ability to play the box and free safety roles along with the nickel makes him a perfect fit in Detroit. It will allow Sheppard to come up with some pretty dynamic packages if he chooses to put him on the field with Joseph and Branch and Amik Robertson in the slot.

The fourth safety spot is really wide open heading into camp. Can the rookies Jackson and Kennelly show enough in a month and a half of practice and four preseason games to boost their stock and earn a spot in a mostly veteran safety room? That will be one thing to watch.

By the numbers:

3rd: Branch is just the third defensive back in the NFL since 1999 to post 100 tackles, defend 15 passes and have five tackles for loss in a single season. The other two are Ronde Barber (2006) and Rodney Harrison (2000).

6: Interceptions recorded in the end zone by the Lions' defense in 2024, which led the NFL.

44.2 and 39.1: The completion percentage and passer rating for opposing quarterbacks when throwing at Joseph last season.

46: Opponent runs of 10-plus yards last season against Detroit's defense. That ranked in the Top 10 in the NFL and speaks to the tackling ability by Joseph, Branch and others in the open field as the last line of defense.

11: Games with at least one interception for the Lions' defense last season, third most in the NFL.

62: Completions of 20-plus yards allowed by Detroit's defense last year. Only Jacksonville (71) allowed more.

Quotable: "Everybody talks about the ball production, which is obviously rare, but one of the things I'm most proud of with him is I thought he did an unbelievable job in the open field tackling last year," defensive assistant and safeties coach Jim O'Neil said recently of Joseph.

"It was even more impressive than I thought when I went back and watched the cut-ups. You're really looking for two things ... obviously a guy that can go get the ball and a guy that can erase mistakes when the ball pops. I thought he did an outstanding job of that and that was a huge point of emphasis for us coming off of his season two years ago and last year."