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Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio is reporting that the Detroit Lions have re-signed linebacker Stephen Tulloch to a five-year deal. The move comes just a day after Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said that the team was having "very productive conversations" with Tulloch about a new deal. I guess they were pretty productive, as Tulloch is now set to be a Lion for the next five seasons.

When Tulloch originally joined the Lions on a one-year deal last summer, the hope was that he would eventually get a long-term contract with the team. The Lions risked losing him this offseason by allowing him to hit the open market, but things have been developing quite slowly for linebackers. This turned out to be good news for the Lions, as Tulloch remained a free agent and didn't hit a payday elsewhere.

In 2011, Tulloch had 111 tackles for the Lions, as well as five pass defenses, two interceptions and one touchdown. He took over the starting middle linebacker job and became an integral part of the defense. The Lions have talked about how important he is for their future plans, and now he is set to be in those future plans by re-signing.

Palmer was technically a restricted free agent, but the Lions declined to tender him an offer. They didn't want to pay him the salary associated with one of the RFA tenders, so they essentially let him become an unrestricted free agent. He didn't sign elsewhere, so the Lions were able to bring him back.

Palmer is a solid contributor on special teams and is a good depth linebacker to have. He appeared in all of the Lions' games in 2010 and 2011, and he figures to be on the 53-man roster again this year.

It's not clear if the move to re-sign Palmer will have any effect on the Lions' interest in linebacker Tim Shaw, who is a similar player in terms of being solid depth at linebacker and a contributor on special teams. Shaw visited the Lions on Monday, and although it reportedly went well, not too much has come out so far about if the two sides are talking about making a deal happen.