Defensive end Trey Flowers’ most recent game for New England came in Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3, 2019, when the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13-3.

That capped Flowers’ third consecutive trip to the NFL championship game with New England and served as the jumping off point for signing a five-year, $90 million contract with the Detroit Lions as a free agent about five weeks later.

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Flowers returned to the Patriots on Tuesday, when the NFL team announced it had signed the former Columbia High School standout.

Flowers tied for the Lions’ lead with seven sacks in his first season in Detroit in 2019. But in the next two seasons, he missed 19 games with knee and shoulder injuries and a broken forearm. In 2020 and 2021, Flowers totaled 3.5 sacks, and a change of defenses in 2021 had him lining up more at outside linebacker than defensive end during his seven games on the field.

The Lions released Flowers as a salary-cap casualty on March 10, 2022, and he signed with the Miami Dolphins on Aug. 28.

In his fourth game with Miami, Flowers sustained a foot injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

A fourth-round draft choice from Arkansas in 2015, Flowers played in one game for the Patriots in his rookie season because of a shoulder injury. Over the next three seasons, the defensive end led New England in sacks annually, and the Patriots played in the Super Bowl each year, winning the NFL championship twice.

Flowers earned All-State recognition at Columbia in 2009 and 2010, but he went from Huntsville to Arkansas because that was his only offer from an SEC member. With the Razorbacks, Flowers made 47.5 tackles for loss, which ranked second on the school’s all-time list, and earned second-team All-SEC recognition twice.

With the Patriots’ signing of Flowers set to appear on Tuesday afternoon’s transactions report, it will be the fourth time in five days that former Alabama high school standouts have appeared among the report’s roster additions.

On Friday, the Cleveland Browns signed linebacker Cam Bright from Park Crossing High School and wide receiver Jalen Wayne from Spanish Fort High School. On Saturday, the Detroit Lions signed cornerback Tae Hayes from Decatur High School. On Monday, the Philadelphia Eagles signed linebacker Zach Cunningham from Pinson Valley High School.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.