Mr.TaterSalad

I was all aboard the draft Stroud or Young wago at the start of last season and even into the first half of the season. But Jared Goff played like a top-tier QB in the league for much of the season, but especially in the final 8-9 games to close it out. I spent years throwing shade at and picking apart Matt Stafford because his performance wasn't good enough or he couldn't beat good defenses or we never won a playoff game with him at QB. He proved me wrong and so too it seems would Goff if I nitpicked his game, manipulated stats to make him look lesser, and demanded he be traded. Does Jared Goff's game still have his minor flaws? Yes! We need to see Goff replicate what he did last year before signing him to a long-term extension. I'd personally like to see his completion% jump up a point or point and a half (he ranked 19th among active starters last year with a 65.1 completion %) and his air yards completion% go up as well. I'd also like to see him fumble a bit less (he had 7 on the year). But damn if Goff didn't play really well last year. Jared Goff finished the season top 7 in yards, top 10 in completed air yards, top 5 in TDs, top 5 in QBR, took among the fewest sacks for starters who played the full season, and only threw 7 INTs. He did it all while having strong performances against good defenses like The Eagles, Bills, and Jaguars. He wasn't simply feasting on the weak like I always accused Stafford of doing. If what Goff did down this past year, combined with the fact that he's already proven he can take a team to the Super Bowl, doesn't warrant him getting a shot at being this teams long-term starter, then what would? Do we need to see him win a playoff game first before fully trusting him or just replicate last season? I think to MB's point, Goff would have the right to feel insecure about his job and a bit upset if his incredibly strong performance last year, especially down the stretch. I think he's earned the right next year to prove he is our long-term starter, without having the fear of his replacement waiting in the wings, ready to go at every moment. I still like Bryce Young and CJ Stroud as prospects, that hasn't changed. I still feel both have the potential to be very solid starting QBs in this league. If there was a surefire Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow like prospect and the Lions had the chance to draft one of them at #6, I might be changing my tune and advocating for that. But neither Young nor Stroud are viewed at that level. Given that and what Goff did this past year, he has earned the right, unimpeded by a rookie, to prove he is this organizations starting QB for the long haul.

It sounds like he changed his story several times too. How much does this defer from the Henry Ruggs situation if Carter was indeed driving intoxicated and drag racing and that drag race caused the fatality?

What is the legal culpability for fleeing the scene of an accident in which you were allegedly drag racing with that person and they then died?

I'm hoping MI SOS Jocelyn Benson gets in the race as well. I don't want to see Slotkin just waltz in unopposed as the Democratic nominee. Rumor is too that actor Hill Harper is exploring running.

You don't think they are drafting Bryce Young and trading Justin Fields? Fields isn't Ryan Poles nor Matt Eberflus' QB so the new regime may want their own guy and may want to reset the clock on the rookie contract.

Maybe on the coin toss? Do you remember when the Steelers were playing the Lions and Jerome Bettis called heads I believe and the coin landed on heads but the Refs gave the ball to the Lions anyways? Could be a situation like that.

I don't think there is a soul in this city and fanbase that would be upset if they made the Super Bowl and lost.

I was reading from a Lions Wire article about a Ramsey trade and that it would likely have to come after June 1 do to cap implications. I really like Ramsey and would love to have him on this team. Waiting until after June 1 gives us time to develop an offseason plan and allow it to better play out. We don't need to rush right now into a bidding war for Ramsey. If Ramsey is getting traded after June 1 then I'd like to make a run at Jamel Dean or James Bradberry before trading draft capital to acquire Ramsey. He's my Plan B option if we strikeout on Dean or Bradberry.

Don Shane was a Detroit thing for over 30 years in Detroit as a Sportscaster at Channel 7. I much preferred Don Shane (and Dan Miller) to Bernie Smilovitz on Channel 4. I met Don once in my life at the TPC of Dearborn waiting in the rope line to get golfer autographs. 12 year old me thought it was cool to me a sports guy I always saw on TV and he was a nice guy to say hello and shake the hand of a kid. RIP Don Shane, a Detroit broadcasting legend.

How the hell is Brandon Miller still allowed on the basketball court and not suspended indefinitely pending investigation? He allegedly brought a gun to someone who then used it to commit a murder. At best, he's Ray Lewis, in the wrong place at the wrong time. At worst he is an accessory to a murder. RIP to Darius Miles whose life was taken.

The big difference between trading for Higgins and drafting say a Quentin Johnston or a TE like Michael Mayer is that Higgins is a proven commodity versus anyone you are drafting. And certainly versus a Mayer, he gives you more speed, route options, and greater positional value. The more I look at the numbers of what he gives this offense and the more I think about how teams are winning in today's NFL, I am increasingly in agreement with you. Short of finding a unicorn, anyone you draft at #18 won't give you the production value of Tee Higgins in year 1. Brad Holmes is proving to be a good enough drafter that he can find good players elsewhere to fit our needs. Higgins plus an aggressive free agent signing makes a lot of sense to me.

I agree with all of this. A Higgins/Chark type of receiver is what we don't have under contract on this roster right now. We need a go up and get it guy and Higgins certainly is that and as you said, will actually come cheaper next year than Chark. Look at the Bengals from two seasons ago, they already had Higgins and Boys as their #1 and #2 WRs and they still went out and added Ja'Marr Chase and it got them to a Super Bowl (though having Burrow helps a whole lot). What defensive player would the Bengals had added that year in the draft that would have made that type of impact and propelled them to a Super Bowl? Maybe Micah Parsons? I'm not saying Goff is Joe Burrow, but given the way he played down the stretch last year, he isn't as far behind as you might initially think.

I forgot about subtracting Chark there. So we'd be around 18 point behind the Chiefs in that case. I also like Higgins in the redzone as a target too. Having a big-bodied, 6'4 receiver in the redzone makes us that much more of a matchup problem.

Tee Higgins scored 42 points for the Bengals last year on 7 total touchdowns. If you added his point totals to the Lions 453 total team points that would put us up to 295 total points and would put us 1 point behind the Super Bowl Champion Chiefs and that is with both Swift and JaMo being limited in playing time last year. I get that Higgins will eat up a certain share of targets that might otherwise go to JaMo and St. Brown, but the guy gets in the endzone and scores. He's a 6'4, big bodied wideout who can be a redzone machine given his height and size. Whose going to cover us and stop us with a receiving corps like that? Who can opposing defenses afford to leave open if you press with a double team? We would be a coverage nightmare if we had Tee Higgins on this team and there isn't an opposing team, sans maybe San Francisco and the Eagles, that could slow us down. No one would want to face us with Higgins on the team. No one wanted to face us this year at season's end without Higgins. The goal at the end of the day is to score more points than the other team and win the game. If you win a track meet at 38-35 versus a tighter, lower scoring game like 21-17 who cares how you did it. Right now, it is elite offenses winning championships in the NFL. Our offense is elite based on yards and point totals. Adding Tee Higgins will only solidify that and puts us in the stratosphere of the two Super Bowl teams from this past season. Short of finding a diamond in the rough, Higgins will undoubtedly be better next year than whoever we draft at #18 and he will give us a better shot at winning the division, the conference and potentially making a Super Bowl in a seemingly weak NFC. If you can go out draft a Devon Witherspoon at #6 and sign a guy like Dalvin Tomlinson, Tremaine Edwards or Bobby Wagner in lieu of drafting whomever at DT or LB at #18 I'd argue that the combo of Higgins/Wagner/Witherspoon would hold a higher WAR than whatever two players you end up drafting plus your splash free agent signing. I think Higgins is a difference maker who helps you win now. He gives you an immediate impact with a WAR that would be above anyone you are drafting. In an offensive league like the NFL, with as poor number of offenses as we will face in the NFC and NFC North (Bears and Packers without Rodgers) I'd argue Higgins could be a net +1 WAR.

He's this years DeVonta Smith. They seem like identical players, undersized and lightning fast. If you didn't think highly of Smith as a prospect coming out of Bama you likely won't think much of Addison.

IF we did trade for Tee Higgins he's going to want #1 Receiver money and at least 4 years, no? I would guess something like 4 years $70 million with $55-$60 million guaranteed. Too low, too high for Higgins? We would instantly have the best receiving corps in the league assuming Williams hits his potential and Higgins is as good as advertised without Burrow as his QB. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't some appeal to a Higgins/St.Brown/Williams wideout group. Given that we're playing in an NFC that's got teams that are weak on offense and given that we are a dome team, we could really run up the score with a set of offensive weapons like those three. Who could opposing defenses double cover? What offenses in the NFC sans the Eagles could keep up with us in a first to 30-35 track meet type of a game?

I finally watched the Elvis biopic with Tom Hanks and Austin Butler and it was not good. The directing and film making were what bothered me most. In particular, the editing, and constant scene cutting was annoying and not enjoyable to watch. I think Tom Hanks was surprisingly disappointing as Colonel Parker as well. I thought his acting was campy and hokey. I wanted this to be a standard biopic format from childhood through the end of his life, giving us the timeline of his life and career. I felt with all the constant scene cutting and jumping we didn't get that. Walk the Line and Straight Out of Compton did the music biopics right. I might be in the minority on this, but I was hoping for an Elvis version of Walk the Line. Replace Johnny Cash's life and backstory with Elvis but follow the same template, editing, and directing style.

Not all trade ups are created equal. I believe it was reported that Holmes wanted to possibly move up to get Chase (maybe Sewell too, but I remember it being discussions around Chase). As well, he allegedly had to be talked out of moving up to get Levi. Trading up for Levi would be proof that not all trade ups are created equal nor good for the franchise, even if the GM has an otherwise solid drafting track record.

Believe you me, if Michael Mayer is the Lions pick at #6 like some random football analyst on Twitter mocked a month or so ago, we can have that fire everyone conversation again lol

That is great to see that people actually would want the guys we drafted. That is a positive indictment on Holmes and the front office he assembled. Did the redraft happen to say where Josh Paschal would have went?

I think Holmes may well have have taken anyone of Ed Oliver, Brian Burns or Montez Sweat. Clearly Oliver hasn't lived up to the hype, but I think Burns or Sweat lined up with Hutch on this defense would have been a plus for us.

The boy from Scranton, Working Class Joe, siding with big rail corporations over working people and local communities. The Biden Administration is about to side with Norfolk Southern over working people and communities who are victims of rail disasters and over employees who worked for a rail corporation.

Does everyone here watch the 90s-themed police drama Tokyo Vice on HBO Max?

Chad Reuter in NFL.com has us taking CB Christian Gonzalez at #6 and TE Michael Mayer at #18 in his latest mock draft. If that were to happen who would you all like as far as new GM candidates because I'd be looking for one if Brad Holmes went CB-TE in the first round.

RIP Raquel Welch. She was a real menace.