The first phone call Larry Borom made after agreeing to a one-year free-agent contract with the Detroit Lions was to his mother, Joelle, to let her know her son was coming home.

Borom was born in Detroit, grew up in Oak Park and attended Birmingham Brother Rice High School before playing his college ball in the SEC at Missouri. He's been a Detroit Lions fan his entire life and said Thursday he's always kept up to date on the Lions while playing in Chicago and Miami the last five seasons.

"Extremely ecstatic," Borom said at his introductory press conference at the Meijer Performance Center Thursday when asked how excited his family is. "My mom, she was crying as soon as I called her and told her."

He said the opportunity to return home and to be part of an explosive offense were the two biggest reasons he chose Detroit over a few other teams that were in the mix.

"It's surreal. It still doesn't feel real," Borom said of officially signing his contract with the Lions Thursday. "Because this is home. I don't even know how to explain it to people. I'm ecstatic, I really can't put words to it."

Borom said he isn't taking the opportunity to represent his home team lightly.

"It grew me into the man I am today," he said of Detroit. "This city is nothing but people who get up and get after it. It's nothing but hustlers, and people are hard workers in this city. I take that with a lot of pride so being from here and being able to put the jersey on is everything."

Borom started the final two years of his college career at Missouri, primarily lining up at right tackle, which led to him being drafted by Chicago in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft (No. 151 overall). He started his rookie season on injured reserve due to an ankle injury but returned and earned a starting role the second half of the season.

Over the next three seasons, Borom was in and out of the starting lineup and would start another 19 games for the Bears.

He hit free agency last offseason and signed a one-year deal with Miami to be their swing tackle. When starting right tackle Austin Jackson was injured Week 1, Borom jumped back into the starting lineup and made 11 starts last season allowing just two sacks in 404 pass-blocking snaps.

Most of Borom's NFL experience has come at right tackle, but he's also filled in at left tackle and both guard spots and has played at least 330 offensive snaps in each of his five seasons in the league. He's a five-year veteran with 38 games of starting experience under his belt.

The Lions have needs to address along their offensive line with the recent releases of left tackle Taylor Decker and center Graham Glasgow and the retirement of tackle Dan Skipper.

"One way or another, we're going to need somebody that can play over there and that can help us if we need them in a crunch or we need them as a starter," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said at the NFL Scouting Combine of the tackle position in particular. "That's important."

The fact that Borom can play left or right tackle gives the Lions flexibility upfront depending on who else they might add at the position in free agency or in next month's NFL Draft.

"Just being big and physical and being able to move," Borom said of his skillset fitting in Detroit. "That's a key component of being a good offensive lineman and I feel I can do all three of those things and can do them well."