For most of his seven NFL seasons Earl Holmes led his team in tackles.

Now the veteran middle linebacker is being asked to help lead the Detroit Lions back to respectability.

"I know I'm going there (primarily) because I can still play, but I think they also wanted a veteran guy who can help show the way, and I can fill that bill too," said Holmes, who is moving on to his third team in three years. "They have some good, veteran players, but a lot of young guys as well. Hopefully, I can help them bring it all together."

Released by the Cleveland Browns for salary cap considerations at the outset of the free agent period, and after just one season with the franchise, Holmes reached a contract agreement with Detroit late Tuesday night, and he signed the contract Wednesday.

He will sign a three-year contract and, while the complete financial details were not yet available, Holmes will earn $1.75 million in 2003, between his signing bonus and base salary. Holmes is the second middle linebacker in recent days to sign with the Lions, who last week added unrestricted free agent Wali Rainer, with a two-year, $1.83 million contract.

Because both Holmes and Rainer have played near-exclusively inside in their respective careers, it is unclear how coach Steve Mariucci will use the two. The addition of Holmes, though, does signal that the Lions coaches have no further plans to move Barrett Green from the weakside spot to the middle linebacker post.

Even after Detroit acquired Rainer last week, team officials emphasized they hoped to add another veteran linebacker before the draft, further addressing an area of glaring weakness. Holmes had visited with several teams since his release from the Browns and, while there had been some negotiations with his agents, the Lions moved quickly and decisively to land him.

Holmes, 29, has said throughout the free agent period, during his various visits, that he felt he still had several good seasons remaining. He also said that the knee problems he experienced in the past did not hinder him in '02, when he registered 128 tackles in his lone season in Cleveland.

Accustomed to playing in a winning atmosphere, given that he played the first six seasons of his career in Pittsburgh before departing as a free agent after the 2001 campaign, Holmes said he has a good feeling about the Lions.

"There's some excitement there, with the new coach, a stadium that just opened a year ago," Holmes said. "It can get turned around, believe me."

The onetime Florida A&M star entered the league as the Steelers' fourth-round choice in the 1996 draft and became a starter in his second season. He has 729 career tackles and gone over the 100-tackle mark each of the last four years. He also has 9 ½ sacks, an interception and 26 pass deflections.

Holmes has appeared in 97 games and started 94 of them. He started all but one game for the Browns in 2002.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.