Lions 2013 Free Agency idea thread

[Piston Pete]

Anyone remember the movie "BaseKetball" and when they were talking about Shaq getting rich in college?? Well that's Bush - he got rich in college.

But seriously though....imo, our free agency (cap) money should be spent on re-signing our own guys, CB, S, and depth.

We want a speedy kick returner and 3rd down back? Why not target one in rounds 3-5 who will cost a fraction of what Bush will command -- and use that money on the D? Guys in the draft I'd be interested in - Gillespie, Barner, Davis, Franklin, Tavon Austin.

[Sheeeeed]

I don't think its a coincidence once Reggie Bush went from playing on a turf field to a grass field he stayed health. I'd rather not see the Lions take that kind of risk.

what does USC play on?

Grass.

[Blkbrd671]

Denard robinson in the 5th and the honey badger in the 7th would be intriguing.

[Blkbrd671]

Damit! i hope your wrong and it has nothing to do with the playing field as it seems like a 60/40 split that we are going to sign him. according to DFP , its a matter if he's willing to take money later on in the contract

[Piston Pete]

I pretty much agree with this article, re; not to sign Bush:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013 ... ext|Sports

[Blkbrd671]

I pretty much agree with this article, re; not to sign Bush:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013 ... ext|Sports

good read

[ADflight1]

I think I saw we have about 9 million is cap space right now. Certainly enough to get Bush and bring someone like Durant back and some smaller guys probably. (ala the Corey Hilliard signing today)

But we won't be able to make a huge splash unless Stafford gets a new contract. If we can get him done, we could look at a safety like William Moore or an under the radar guy like Glover Quin. There's some nice under the radar corners too like a Bradley Fletcher.

Edit: We'd still have to make more cuts/re-structures though to get someone like Houston and money for draft picks.

Edit again: Seems like Moore has missed some games the last few seasons. Probably would be smarter to steer clear of guys like him.

[Icness]

I like the Hilliard signing. He came cheap, he knows the system and fits it, and at worst he's the 7th lineman that can play either tackle spot and right guard. It says that Cherilus is gonzo, which I agree with.

The line as it stands right now:
LT Backus/Hilliard
LG Sims
C Nagy/Austin
RG Reiff/Nagy/Austin
RT Fox/Reiff/Hilliard

It's not great but it's better than Chicago or Green Bay even if those teams take 1st round linemen. If the Lions take Fisher at 5--and that could happen--Backus goes bye bye. I'm reliably told the Lions will not consider Warmack at 5.

[Blkbrd671]

In terms of impact right now, which would be bigger for us a OL or CB or DE. Personally i think if we went CB we'd instantly see improvement in our D

[Piston Pete]

The line as it stands right now:
LT Backus/Hilliard
LG Sims
C Nagy/Austin
RG Reiff/Nagy/Austin
RT Fox/Reiff/Hilliard

I'm sorry, but does this scare the heck outta anyone else in here? It does me. This scenario means spending most our cap space on CB Houston AND CB Sean Smith (along with re-signing the LBs) and taking either Joekel or Fisher at #5. Improve our O-line and secondary immensly and use the rest of the draft to build depth eslewhere - safeties, o-line depth, WR, speed RB.

[Blkbrd671]

Michael turner and Abraham free agents. if we don't resign avril, i think we could get abraham cheap

[ADflight1]

In terms of impact right now, which would be bigger for us a OL or CB or DE. Personally i think if we went CB we'd instantly see improvement in our D

DE

I think S would be 2nd, a pretty close one at that.

[Blkbrd671]

^i think we could run with Young , Jackson and a 3rd rounder as our DE and survive. HAving Fairley Suh beasting the middle. i don't think Green, greenwood or Bentley on a weekly basis is going not give up a big play.

like i've said a million times, i'd rather have a good secondary and decent front 4 than a dominant front 4 and decent/average secondary

[ADflight1]

Corner isn't even our weakest position in the secondary. Houston is a top 15 corner and I liked what I saw from Green. Bentley has potential as a slot corner and Greenwood's size is intriguing. Not saying I wouldn't take an upgrade it's just not as pressing of a need as safety is. Our safety play was dreadful last year and so were our defensive ends.

[Blkbrd671]

Corner isn't even our weakest position in the secondary. Houston is a top 15 corner and I liked what I saw from Green. Bentley has potential as a slot corner and Greenwood's size is intriguing. Not saying I wouldn't take an upgrade it's just not as pressing of a need as safety is. Our safety play was dreadful last year and so were our defensive ends.

Agreed, running lacey in the back is not ideal. i was assuming we'd address the safety need in the 2nd round, and bring back delmas. I also like what i saw from Bentley and Green last year minus the F* up's, and supposedly Greenwood has been more impressive than those 2. Point is that they are all questions marks and i'd rather not try to answer those questions through out the season. i'm really not sold on any of the DE's coming out the draft as being elite, i am sold that Milner is at worst Houston 2.0 if not better

[Icness]

A big-play safety would do more to positively impact the Lions defense than anything else. There isn't one at 5. There could be one at 36. There will be reasonable facsimiles at 67. There will be safeties better than Don Carey and Amari Speivey in the 5th, and right now those are the starters w/ Delmas being a free agent.

[Blkbrd671]

A big-play safety would do more to positively impact the Lions defense than anything else. There isn't one at 5. There could be one at 36. There will be reasonable facsimiles at 67. There will be safeties better than Don Carey and Amari Speivey in the 5th, and right now those are the starters w/ Delmas being a free agent.

Whats the word on Delmas? does he have much of a market?


i'd be fine with 2nd round pick going to safety. I would want a sure thing though as oppose to higher ceiling type player who has a lot to prove. Additionally Could any of the CB's we drafted last year move to safety?


Another question is that if we go DE in 1st , S in the second, do we even consider the CB's in the third or are the trio we drafted last year just as good if not better. You had indicated in your column that there'd be some pretty interesting DE's in the 3rd round.

[Piston Pete]

Dolphins didn't tag OT Jake Long, making him an UFA

Same goes for the 49ers not tagging S Goldson

WR Mike Wallace was also not tagged.


Could be an interesting offseason. Wish the Lions had more cap space.

[Piston Pete]

Are there any more cut-worth players on our roster?

We can also create cap space by restructuring/extending Stafford's deal - which I know talks have already been in place.


Love to re-sign our core guys and then make 2-3 additional IMPACT signings like S Goldson, WR Wallace, and/or CB Sean Smith

[Icness]

The Lions want Delmas back and he wants to be back, but they are not real close on terms. Delmas wants long-term security, the Lions are not willing to give that to him based on his durability issues. If someone else will, he will leave. From what I've heard the two sides are actually pretty close on $$ but it's the years and guarantees that are the hangups.

I know it's not sexy and he won't come cheap, but I would love for the Lions to sign Shane Lechler. He's the best punter in NFL history and it's not close, and his value is low because he's coming off a poor (for him) season. Probably not the most prudent use of $$ but I really love the guy.

Gerald Sensabaugh and DJ Moore are two cap casualties worth kicking the tires on. Sensabaugh was misfit in Rob Ryan's defense & would fare better in Detroit IMO. I liked Moore coming out of Vandy more than I like him now after he never found a spot in Chicago. He is similar to Don Carey in that he's a corner with safety attributes and isn't really good at either spot but isn't terrible either.