ALLEN PARK Devin Singletary Jersey , Mich. (AP) — As far as Detroit general manager Bob Quinn is concerned, the Lions needed to pounce once they found a linebacker they liked.“Linebackers that play in this defense, that are really very, very good natural fits, there’s only a couple every year,” Quinn said. “You wait a year, you don’t get one, you might not get him next year, you might not get him the year after.”The Lions drafted Hawaii linebacker Jahlani Tavai in the second round of the NFL draft Friday night, then traded up to pick Boston College defensive back Will Harris in the third. Tavai is second on Hawaii’s career list in tackles and was on preseason watch lists last year for the Bronko Nagurski and Butkus awards. He averaged 10.2 tackles a game, but a shoulder injury cut his 2018 season short, and he played in only eight games.“Shoulder’s doing great,” Tavai said. “I’m just getting excited to be able to get into pads again.”In 2017, he started all 12 games at middle linebacker and ranked 10th nationally in tackles.Detroit took the 250-pound Tavai with the 43rd pick — the highest a Hawaii player has been drafted since Tennessee took defensive end Travis LaBoy at No. 42 in 2004.An NFL.com analyst projected Tavai to go in the fourth or fifth round , and Detroit’s pick in the first half of the second round was a bit of a surprise. The Lions took tight end T.J. Hockenson in the first round Thursday night.Quinn said the Lions had been targeting Tavai since as early as October.“We like thick Dawson Knox Jersey , built linebackers,” Quinn said. “Really thick guys that can kind of take on blocks, but then when they play on the edge, they have enough playing strength and enough arm length to set the edge.”In addition to being a football standout, Tavai has also been an impressive rugby player and was named to an Under-18 U.S. national team.“Big thing with rugby, especially in sevens, is learning how to make a better tackle in the open field,” Tavai said. “So that was one thing that really helped me in football.”The last time the Lions took a linebacker in the draft was 2017, when they selected Jarrad Davis in the first round and Jalen Reeves-Maybin in the fourth.The Lions took Harris with the 81st pick, which they acquired from Minnesota in exchange for a third-rounder and a sixth-rounder. A four-year player at Boston College, Harris was a starter since late in his freshman season and earned third-team All-ACC honors as a senior.Quinn used to work for the New England Patriots, and he said he has plenty of contacts on the staff at Boston College, where Harris played.“I know a bunch of staff members just for, honestly, probably 15 or 20 years. You go there Brian Burns Jersey , and Boston College had a pretty good list of prospects this year,” Quinn said. “Really, the first guy that a lot of guys mentioned to me was (Harris).”Lions defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni was a defensive line coach at Boston College for two seasons before joining the Lions last year.Harris’ father Will, a receiver at Mississippi State, was drafted by Buffalo in the seventh round in 1993.“He’s been there every step of the way. He’s been my coach growing up, my trainer, my mentor,” Harris said. “It meant the world for me for him to be here and see our culmination of work. … This is the best day of my life.” OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens have signed pending unrestricted free agent tight end Nick Boyle to a three-year contract, the latest in a series of moves by rookie general manager Eric DeCosta during a busy offseason.Boyle has 75 catches over four seasons without a touchdown. The 6-foot-4, 270-pounder ranked sixth on the team last season with 23 receptions — 11 fewer than Ravens rookie tight end Mark Andrews.Boyle’s value to the Ravens, however, transcends catches and scores.“I would say he’s the best blocking tight end in the league,” coach John Harbaugh said. “There’s no question in my mind about that.”Boyle signed the contract late Wednesday night rather than enter the market next week as a free agent.Appearing at a press conference Thursday wearing an untucked polo shirt and jeans and with his wife, Kristina Greg Little Jersey , Boyle said his goal was to return to the Ravens at the right price.“I didn’t want to go to another team,” Boyle said. “We love it here. As long as I thought (the offer) was fair, just come back here.”Harbaugh said: “We wanted Nick and Nick wanted to be here. Both sides did a great job of making that happen.”Boyle was suspended twice during his first two seasons for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy, but played in 31 of 32 games over the last two years.The 26-year-old Boyle was a 2015 fifth-round draft pick out of Delaware. He will team with Andrews and Hayden Hurst to provide protection and over-the-middle targets for second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson.“I’d be hard-pressed to think of a better tight end group in the league right now,” Harbaugh said.The move comes during an offseason in which DeCosta has already worked a trade that would send quarterback Joe Flacco to Denver; cut six-time Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle; cut restricted free agent running back Alex Collins; and re-signed defensive back Tavon Young.“We knew even during the (2018) season that we have a lot to do,” Harbaugh said. “We have a lot of young players that we want to keep, veteran leaders that was going to be a different scenario for each guy.”That includes Weddle. It was not an easy decision, cutting a player with his talent and leadership, but the Ravens desperately needed salary cap space.“When the picture starts to unfold for Eric and the organization, it starts to become clear how you’re going to manage your resources,” Harbaugh said. “Sometimes it’s unfortunate in what you have to do.”That won’t be the last tough call for DeCosta this offseason. In the weeks ahead, he must decide whether to sign unrestricted free agent linebackers Terrell Suggs, C.J. Mosley and Za’Darius Smith; quarterback Robert Griffin III; and wide receiver John Brown.