(Until training camp starts at the end of July, Lions Lowdown will post five times a week using the list format.)

The Lions chose to re-sign DeAndre Levy

and not Justin Durant. So now the competition is on to replace Durant. Here are the top three competitors for the starting role:

1. Ashlee Palmer (in photo) has started six games at linebacker in his career which gives him an edge over Travis Lewis and Tahir Whitehead. Palmer has been a force on special teams.

2. Travis Lewis, who was a seventh-round pick out of Oklahoma, last year saw time on special teams as a rookie. He led the Sooners in tackles in his first three seasons and was slowed down in his senior year with a broken bone in his left foot but still had 83 tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack.

3. Tahir Whitehead is much the same as Lewis — he saw mostly special team work last season where he displayed his speed and athletic ability. He was a fifth-round pick from Temple.

(Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter. Order her book,  “100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die’’ here. It’s also available at bookstores.)