Report: Zach Orr to visit Lions amid possible return from early retirement
A market for Zach Orr's services is taking shape mere hours after revealing he may return to football.
The former Baltimore Ravens linebacker, who retired from the NFL in January at 24 due to a spinal condition, is scheduled to visit the Detroit Lions on Thursday, ESPN's Dan Graziano reports.
Orr explained in an NFL Network appearance Wednesday morning that he's received some more promising evaluations after seeking additional medical opinions.
As Graziano adds, a total of eight teams have reached out since.
Orr's retirement came on the heels of a breakout 2017 campaign, where he racked up 132 tackles and three interceptions en route to second-team All-Pro honors.
Keeping him as a restricted free agent would have been a relative no-brainer for the Ravens this offseason, but his retirement plans resulted in the team not issuing a tender.
While he hinted Wednesday that a new deal in Baltimore would make sense, he also seemed open to weighing the options he has around the league.
"I really don't know (where I'll play) yet," Orr said, according to Conor Orr of NFL.com. "I'm eager to see. I just want to play football. I just want to play ball. I mean perfect situation, perfect scenario, of course Baltimore. I have a great relationship with everybody in that organization, teammates that I've got to know really well that I'll talk to for the rest of my life and then obviously with C.J. Mosley, we came into the league the same year and I felt like we had a chance to be one of the best tandems in the National Football League, we're working toward that.
"So perfect scenario, Baltimore obviously would be favorites. But I just want to play football. And at the end of the day, that's what I want to do. I love ball and I'm ready to give whoever or whatever my all out there on the field."
The linebacker position was one of the most glaring needs on Detroit's roster heading into the offseason. Well aware of the need to upgrade that spot, the Lions drafted Jarrad Davis and Jalen Reeves-Maybin in the first and fourth rounds, respectively.