WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. >> The Lions made several signings in the first wave of NFL free agency that bode well from a culture and talent standpoint.

Cornerback DJ Reed, nose tackle Roy Lopez and linebacker Grant Stuard all fit the profile of talented players who represent the right things, Lions coach Dan Campbell said at the NFL’s annual league meetings this week.

“For what they’re asked to do, they’re all three competitive, productive players. And I think that’s just, man, it’s the way they play the game. They don’t back down from anybody,” Campbell said.

Reed was the headliner of Detroit’s free-agent class. After three seasons with the New York Jets, he signed a three-year, $48 million contract with Detroit to uphold the expectations for a man-heavy scheme with corners who get busy in the run game. Reed was a replacement for Carlton Davis III, who left for the New England Patriots on a deal that paid him slightly more (three years, $54 million).

“He’s got cover ability. He can play man-to-man. … But he’ll bite on the perimeter, right? He’ll come up. He’ll tackle. He’ll squeeze the edges. He’ll mix it up, and then he’ll challenge you at the catch point,” Campbell said. “Man, he’s feisty. He’s competitive.”

Campbell said he fell in love with Reed’s competitiveness while watching crossover tape last year. His favorite moment was actually one where Reed got beat and recovered, showing a never-say-die attitude on his way to getting back in the play.

“You get beat at corner, that’s part of this league. He gets beat, he puts his foot in the ground, and I mean, he is on an all-out — he doesn’t have time to think about recovering. He is just on beeline to try to angle this guy off,” Campbell said. “I thought that was one of the most impressive things. Man, this guy doesn’t go in the tank, he’s not worried about what it looks like. He’s just trying to compete and win. And he lines up and he’s back for more.

“That says it all. He’s got the attributes. He’s got the skill level. But man, he’s feisty. He’s competitive. He doesn’t get down, man.”

Campbell didn’t have to watch crossover tape to become familiar with Lopez. He saw Lopez’s ability firsthand when the Lions traveled to play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 last season. He was impressed with how the 6-foot-2, 318-pound former wrestler competed against second-team All-Pro center Frank Ragnow, calling Lopez a “down and dirty” player.

“He’s taking on the double-teams. He’s keeping people off the backers. He can get an edge on you,” Campbell said of Lopez, who signed a one-year deal with Detroit in March. “And he’ll just do it time in, time out, again over and over. One of the things that impressed me about him was when we played him. I mean, him going against Frank all day. We ran the heck out of the ball, but man, that guy held his own now and we’ve got a pretty damn good center. That was impressive.”

Campbell brought Stuard’s name up earlier in the session, following a question about how the Lions continue to refine their culture with free-agent additions. At the time of his signing, Stuard said the selling point for coming to Detroit was playing against the Lions last season. He remembered thinking, “Man, if there’s a whole building of people like that, I’d love to be there.”

“If you’ve got some tools and you’ve got some talent but you’ve got a little bit of a chip on your shoulder and you’re a guy who believes you can do it in this league, and it doesn’t matter if you have the big name or the flash or the most money, then you belong here because you can play,” Campbell said. “It’s one of the reasons we brought in Stuard, too. It’s a guy that flies under the radar.”

Campbell added: “Stuard can do it all, man. He’s a guy that’s been counted out, but just continues to make plays in this league. He’s a dynamic special-teams player, in my opinion, and he can play defense.”

Campbell is taking a wait-and-see approach to determining whether the Lions’ defense will be better than the one that started last season.

“We’ll find out on the grass,” he said. “I have no idea until we get on the grass. I’ll be able to tell you that (in) probably September. I don’t know, maybe late September.”