Tavon Wilson

BIOGRAPHY

Tavon Wilson was born on March 19, 1990, in Washington, DC. He is a safety for the Detroit Lions in the NFL.

Wilson started the last 38 games of his collegiate career, spanning his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. In 2011, he was named the team's outstanding defensive back at the annual postseason banquet.

Wilson did not receive an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine. He was invited to the Super Regional Combine in Detroit, Michigan, but declined the invitation. On March 30, 2012, he participated at Illinois' pro day and performed all of the combine and positional drills. During the draft process, Wilson attended private visits with multiple teams, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, and San Diego Chargers. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Wilson was projected to be a sixth or seventh round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the ninth best free safety prospect in the draft and was ranked the 24th best safety in the draft by ESPN Scouts inc.

The New England Patriots selected Wilson in the second round (48th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. On May 12, 2012, the New England Patriots signed Wilson to a fully guaranteed four-year, $4.21 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $1.50 million.

Throughout training camp, he competed for a job as a backup safety against James Ihedigbo, Nate Ebner, Josh Barrett, and Sergio Brown. Head coach Bill Belichick named Wilson the backup free safety to begin the regular season, behind Steve Gregory. On March 10, 2016, the Detroit Lions signed Wilson to a two-year, $2.20 million contract with a signing bonus of $500,000. General manager Bob Quinn targeted Wilson in free agent due to his past relationship with Wilson as the Patriots' Director of Pro Scouting and was an integral part of the Patriots' decision of drafting Wilson in 2012. On March 13, 2018, the Detroit Lions signed Wilson to a two-year, $7 million contract that includes $3.25 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.75 million.