Motown Bombers

Johnson already did a virtual interview with Carolina. He was scheduled to meet in person with the Panthers. Sources close to the Panthers, not his agent, said he was the front runner. You go for the in person interview even if you aren't the front runner. I think it's more likely Ben Johnson didn't want the job more than the Panthers or every other team didn't want him. I've been reading on Twitter that the Panthers have been interviewing coordinators before hiring a coach. Panther fans are complaining about the toxicity of ownership. Lions don't have toxic ownership.

Cominsky was literally on Instagram begging the Lions to sign him and asking fans to retweet, or whatever the hell it is you do on Instagram, his desire to sign with the Lions.

Jerrod Mayo also spurned the Panthers so maybe there is something about the ownership there. Johnson also took himself out of the running in Houston and Indianapolis.

I feel like multiple coordinators turned down the Lions before they hired Bevell. I have never been a big believer in culture but seeing Campbell and Patricia back to back I am a believer.

Ben Johnson was on Campbell's staff in Miami so there was a history. This is another reason why I like the regime. Patricia sucked but they didn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. They identified that there were good coaches on his staff, primarily Ben Johnson and Hank Fraley, and kept them around.

It's more to the point that this opportunity may not come again. It's really wild as Lions fans that the Lions had one of the hottest coordinator coaching candidate and that candidate apparently liked the Lions so much he decided to stay with the team.

I look at Byron Leftwhich who turned down Jacksonville last year and is now fired as OC and no one is interviewing him for head coaching positions. Really surprised.

I'm shocked he would already close the door on head coaching opportunities this year. Not only do players want to stay in Detroit, now coaches do.

If Holmes thinks he's the next Marshall Faulk, I say go ahead and draft him 6th. Those kind of dynamic players don't come around often. If he's the next Reggie Bush, massive hype but only solid production, than hard pass.

Pederson did get an MVP season out of Wentz but then Wentz regressed and has been broken ever since.

I really don't understand ESPN's metrics. They always rate the Lions offensive line poorly.

If the Bears want to sign all the free agents, then the Lions objective is clear: drive up the price so the Bears grossly overpay.

I think the Bears are going to be most aggressive for receivers, OL and maybe one of the top backs. They also need pass rushers which I don't see the Lions being as aggressive for defensive lineman. The Lions will probably be most aggressive for a CB and the Bears can't sign them all.

The Bears and the Lions needs also don't overlap very much. I don't think the Lions and Bears will be competing for the same free agents. I expect the Bears to invest heavily on offense where the Lions will be looking to spend on the defense.

Meh, I think the Lions have positioned them to where they can match a contract from the Bears and lure the free agent away. I honestly don't expect the Lions to go crazy in free agency. They'll likely try to resign their own free agents like Chark, Williams and Cominsky and one or two other outside free agents.

If you designate Okwara and Vatai as post June 1st cuts, the Lions would have $59 million in cap space. They can still sign Goff to an extension to clear even more space if they wanted to. They also have the option of restructuring Ragnow or Decker if they want to. They also have to be cognizant of extensions coming soon for St Brown and Sewell.

I expect Okwara and Charles Harris to be cut. Brockers is a no brainer cut. Vaitai is a high possibility. That's about $28 million in cap space if all were pre June cuts (Could save more on past June 1st cuts). They can also create about $12 million if they restructure Goff. That's about $40 million in cap space they can create. Added to what they already project to have and that is about $55 million in cap space this off season.

I find it much more likely that Goff gets extended than the Lions drafting a QB. At the very least I would be surprised if Goff's contract isn't restructured to create cap space.

You know, with this whole we need to draft a backup QB thing, I decided to look up who the Chiefs backup QB is. It's Chad Henne. I legitimately thought he retired like 10 years ago. Connor Cook would still be 8 years younger and has started a playoff game.

I don't think the Lions should draft a QB at all. After Holmes found players like Rodriguez and Houston in the 6th round, I would rather he not draft a QB who is most likely not to play at all. The Lions have a top 10 QB who is 28 and signed to a very reasonable contract. I haven't seen a fanbase want to move on from a young top 10 QB since Matthew Stafford.

I will jump off the Brad Holmes bandwagon if he drafts a backup QB in the 1st round. This whole backup thing is overblown. Goff didn't miss a snap this season. He's missed a total of 5 games the past 6 seasons and only 3 were due to injury. One was because the Rams had everything locked up and another was due to COVID. Just sign a veteran.

These mocks get worse and worse. That same mock has Seattle trading with Carolina so Carolina can draft a QB but they have Detroit taking a QB and not Seattle. Apparently they believe in Geno Smith and not Goff. Then to top it off they have the Lions trading up with Green Bay to draft a QB instead of using the 6th pick to draft a better QB. I just can't believe how many mock drafts still have a QB going to Detroit but not Seattle.

With the Minnesota loss, Lions top 4 picks now are within the top 55.

Kind of surprised no one ever mentions Pete Carroll. There are really a lot of good candidates.