Who could have imagined when the Baltimore Ravens selected Breshad Perriman in the first round of the 2015 draft, the speedy wide receiver would be preparing to play for his fifth team entering his seventh NFL season?
Obviously, things haven’t gone according to plan, but Perriman said he’s played a role in his journeyman status, passing up opportunities to stay in one place longer than a season the past few years.
“I feel like I always had opportunities to stay with teams,” Perriman said on Tuesday. “It’s always been my choice to leave teams and go to other places. I easily could have been on maybe two teams. I just feel like, I don’t know, I’m trying to tap into my full potential and, you know, I feel like I haven’t done that yet. I’ve had some decent years, but I feel like I have a lot more in store.”
Perriman’s latest stop is Detroit, where he’ll suit up for the Lions in 2021, just like his father Brett did three decades earlier after he was acquired in a trade from the New Orleans Saints.
Brett played 10 seasons in the NFL but his best came during a six-year stretch with the Lions. In 94 games, he caught 428 passes for 5,244 yards and 25 touchdowns, peaking with 108 receptions, 1,488 yards and nine scores in 1995.
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Born in 1993, the younger Perriman is hoping he similarly hits his stride in the Motor City.
“I feel like it’s everything to me,” Perriman said. “It’s just a blessing for everything to come back full circle and just to have the chance and opportunity to come back to the team where my dad put everything together.
“I just know it’s a huge opportunity here for me. I feel like when I got the call, like I said, with everything with my dad playing here and having the best years of his career here, I just felt like it was a no-brainer for me. It was an easy decision.”
The Lions are still piecing together their offense under first-year coordinator Anthony Lynn and Perriman’s role isn’t likely to be formulated until after the draft, when the roster is more fully formed. But with his elite speed, he has been one of the NFL’s most explosive receivers, on a per catch basis, during his career, averaging 16.5 yards per reception. He expects to bring more of the same to the table for the Lions.
“Big plays, that’s me,” Perriman said. “I mean, that’s what I’m all about. I’m about big plays.”
Interestingly, Brett’s No. 80 is available, given the Lions are unlikely to re-sign Danny Amendola, who has sported the number in recent years. But there’s a limit to how closely Breshad is trying to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Although it hasn’t been officially assigned, he’s expecting to stick with the No. 19 he’s worn at his other NFL stops.
“I gotta ride my own wave,” Perriman said. “I got to stay with No. 19, if possible.”
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers