The Detroit Lions are going international to find help for their pass rush.

The Lions signed Canadian Football League star Mathieu Betts to a contract Tuesday, adding the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player to their defensive line.

For the BC Lions in 18 games the previous season, Betts totaled 18 sacks. In addition to choosing the Lions over a contract offer from another NFL team and other CFL suitors, he set a new single-season record for sacks by a player born in Canada.

According to Betts’ agent Sasha Ghavami, “he had offers in both leagues and ultimately the fit in Detroit, they’ve had continued interest in him ever since he worked out for them,” as reported by the Free Press. “The fit is excellent. He seems to be the kind of player they are looking for—high-energy, highly motivated, and willing to give it his all. And, in my opinion, he saw it as an additional chance to enter and succeed in the NFL. He has faith in his skills, and I believe he’s just looking for the chance.”

This season, the Lions’ edge rush group—aside from Aidan Hutchinson—finished 22nd in the NFL in terms of sack rate.

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With eleven and a half sacks, Hutchinson led the Lions, and defensive tackle Alim McNeill came in second with five. James Houston, who was projected to play a situational pass rush role heading into the season, went without sacks and missed all but two games due to injuries. No other defensive end had more than two sacks.

In March, veteran pass rushers Charles Harris (1½), Julian Okwara (two), and Romeo Okwara (two sacks) will become unrestricted free agents.

At his final-season news conference last week, Lions general manager Brad Holmes indicated that the team will be searching for a partner to pair with Hutchinson in the offseason but probably wouldn’t be major spenders in free agency.

“I know everybody wants everything to be paired,” Holmes said. “You have a Pro Bowl pass rusher that (had) double-digit sacks and 100 pressures. Everybody wants to pair the pass rusher with somebody. You have a D-tackle that was on his way before he got hurt to, potentially, a Pro Bowl season, sacks. You want to pair him with that guy. You have a promising young safety, you want to pair him with — everybody wants to, and trust me, that’s what we want, too. We want the same thing.”

The 29-year-old Betts attended Laval University in Quebec City before joining the Chicago Bears in 2019 as an undrafted free agent. After COVID canceled the 2020 CFL season, he played for the Edmonton Eskimos in 2019 and again in 2021. He has been with the BC Lions for the last two seasons.

In December, Betts had three NFL team workouts: the Lions, Buffalo Bills, and Cleveland Browns. However, he was not allowed to sign until after the Super Bowl.