Mr.TaterSalad

I do look at what Cincinnati has with their three headed monster at WR with Chase, Higgins, and Boyd and think we could have a version of what with Williams, St.Brown, and Chark. That is really appealing to have on the field because it really could put an opposing secondary on their toes about how they're able to cover us. That said, I really feel torn on this one because I do think Dean would come in here an instantly elevate the play of this defense and turn our secondary around, give us stability at the corner position for the foreseeable future, and free up what we can do draft wise.

I like what they have going on offense and how Chark and Goff connected towards the latter half of the season. I'd like to keep the cohesion going on offense. That said, if we could get Dean by sacrificing Chark to do it, I'd probably be ok with that. Getting an arguably top 10 Corner in Dean probably would have a bigger impact than what Chark gives us on offense. Dean probably locks died the CB1 spot for the next 4-5 years.

Do you consider an older, James Bradberry-type player getting 2 @ $24mil total a splurge then that Holmes is going to avoid? I think we have the chance to go all in next year and be a top-tier team in the NFC. No reason to be conservative and play it safe this offseason IMO. As far as the Cominsky contract, it was just a shot in the dark. If the number is closer to your projection I think I'd still be willing to pay that given his value to the team this past season.

Valenti and Rico were dogging out Big Ten Corners on yesterday's show saying they don't play any real QBs or passing attack offenses in the Big Ten outside of Ohio State and Maryland. I disagree with them in the thought that the play and experience from a Big Ten CB won't translate to Sundays in the NFL. In my uneducated opinion though, I disagree with what Valenti and Rico were saying about Big Ten CBs. While I think Witherspoon is probably gone by the time we pick at 18, I like what I've watched from Joey Porter Jr. and would be just as happy to get him as I would Witherspoon. Porter is a tall Corner at 6'2 and is rangy with a long wingspan and good speed to be able to keep up with NFL WRs. He's got all the measurables and intangibles you can't teach and enough talent to be molded into a solid starter I feel. https://thedraftnetwork.com/sr-prospect/joey-porter-jr-3518bfad-5043-4113-bb01-6745e47f45e0/ https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Joey-PorterJr-CB-PennState

Same for me and probably a lot of Lions fans. We'd be poking a lot of eyes out from the excitement if that was our offseason haul. Again, I would prefer Jamel Dean over Bradberry because he is younger and more productive. But we're going to have to break the bank I feel to either get Dean away from Tampa Bay or outbid another team.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2023-free-agent-rankings-free-agency PFF has contract projections for their top 100 free agents. All of my other numbers were based off of prior contracts and the contractual value of players in that same range.

Reynolds or Jackson will be bumped to being the practice squad back.

So I ran a mock off-season of sorts using this cap simulator from Over the Cap and the PFF Mock Draft Simulator. My numbers are probably nowhere close to accurate and I have zero idea who we are and aren't resigning. So this is a shot in the dark. After resigning all of our own guys we have $22,027,438 in cap space or free agents and draft picks. That number went down by $12 million after making a big splash signing of James Bradberry at Corner. In the mock draft, Jalen Carter fell to me and so there was no way I wasn't drafting him. Cut Pre 6/1: Romeo Okawara - Saves $7.5 approx. million in cap space Michael Brockers - Saves approx. $10 million in cap space Charles Harris - Saves approx. $4 million in cap space Cut Post 6/1: Halapoulivaati Vaitai - $9.5 million in cap space *I thought about trying to restructure Vaitai's deal to so we could extend out the cap hit for this season. I wouldn't be opposed to him returning at all given the right cap number. Resigned: Nate Sudfeld (QB) - 1 year, $1.08 million with $1.08 million guaranteed Jamal Williams (RB) - 3 Years, $12.5 million with $8.25 million guaranteed Justin Jackson (RB) - 1 year, $1.25 million with $1.25 million guaranteed Craig Reynolds (RB) - 1 year, $980,000 with $980,000 guaranteed DJ Chark (WR) - 3 years, $35 million with $24 million guaranteed Brock Wright (TE) - 3 years, $7.5 million with $4 million guaranteed Shane Zylsta (TE) - 2 years, $1.25 million with $600,000 guaranteed Matt Nelson (LT) - 1 year, $1 million with $1 million guaranteed Dan Skipper (C/G) - 1 year, $900,000 with $900,000 guaranteed Evan Brown (C/G) - 3 years, $7.5 million with $4 million guaranteed Tommy Kraemer (G) - 1 year, $850,000 with $850, guaranteed Isiah Buggs (DE) - 2 years, $3 million, with $600,000 guaranteed John Cominsky (DT) - 2 years, $4 million with $2 million guaranteed Josh Woods (LB) - 1 year, $1.25 million with $1.25 million guaranteed Mike Hughes (CB) - 2 years, $1.625 million with $425,000 guaranteed DeShaun Elliot (S) - 2 Years, $3 million with $1 million guaranteed CJ Moore (S) - 1 year, $825,000 with $825,000 guaranteed Bobby Price (S) - 1 year, $925,000 with $925,000 guaranteed Not re-signed: Alex Anzalone, Amani Oruwariye, Anthony Pittman, Austin Bryant, Benito Jones, Chris Board, Michael Badgley, Scott Daly, Ross Pierschbacher, Will Harris Big Splash Free Agent: James Bradberry (CB) - 2 years, $24 million with $16.5 million guaranteed *I wanted Jamel Dean here but the asking price, per PFF, looks to be around $17 million/per year with a $47.5 million guaranteed price tag. I didn't have the cap space to offer Dean that type of deal and so I opted for the cheaper, older, less talented but still very good James Bradberry instead. Draft:

I didn't realize Brandi Carlile was opening for Pink. I could care less about Pink for the most part but am tempted to go just to see Carlile whom I love.

Does it concern anyone that Bijan Robinson was largely invisible and ineffectual against the two best teams he played all year? He had only 12 attempts and 29 yards against TCU with 2.4 YPC and then 21 attempts 57 yards with 2.7 YPC against Alabama. No TDs in either game.

Bill Bonds is a Detroit icon that only we can understand, relate to, laugh with, and roll our eyes at. I doubt there were many major news markets that had a guy as open, honest, and expressive as Billy was.

Does having a Hall of Fame Running Back retiring via a fax count as uniquely Detroit?

This. A second round pick has to be a starting player on the team. That's the expectation when you pick a guy that early in the draft. If the Lions want a suitable backup for Goff they have had every opportunity to go out and sign a big name veteran like Andy Dalton or Baker Mayfield and they haven't. The guy we're drafting in the second round though needs to be a starter on this team, not someone's long-term backup.

I'm completely against using anything other than one of our first round picks or a late round pick on a QB. To me, either we're picking one of Young, Stroud, or Levis in the first or we're not taking a QB at all until sometime after the fourth round. I get that Jalen Hurts was a second round selection and now he's leading his team to a Super Bowl. But Hurts is by far the exception, not the rule. Here are a list of other second round QBs taken since the year 2000. Other than Derek Carr (and Hurts) there is no one on this list I would want starting on the Lions. And in the case of Carr, he's no better than Goff. We have a unique opportunity to make a hugh, positive impact on our roster with four picks in the first two rounds. I'm not burning one on a QB if Goff is our long term starter and the success rate of that person panning out is incredibly low.

Do you think Cardinal's scenario could also be true though that there is a greater than 50% chance 3 QBs are taken in the top 5?

I think in that scenario the NFL would admit that they got the Sehawks/Rams game wrong with officiating, declare the Rams the winner instead, and move the Lions pick back 2 slots LOL. In all seriousness, I think there is a better than at least 40% chance that between the current teams and a team trading up, 3 QBs could go in the top 5. That is the best scenario for us IMO if we aren't planning on taking a QB ourselves, which I don't think we are. The question then becomes, who do we want as lions fans between Anderson playing on the end/edge and Carter in the interior? More importantly, who would Brad Holmes and the staff want? I would personally rather have Anderson all day over Carter if given the choice. Anderson is a Bosa brothers/Chase Young-like pass rusher and can set the other edge, opposite Hutch, to get at the QB. Having two guys with double digit QB sack, hurry, and pressure potential on opposing ends of the line makes the entire defense better. It also improves our ability to set the edge as a means to contain both in the running game and against mobile QBs moving outside like Fields, Mahomes, Jackson, all of whom we are slated to play next year. Drafting Anderson, assuming he lives up to his potential and isn't a Jadeveon Clowney 2.0, instantly gives us one of the best lines in football.

Could fate change and make the Lions that lucky that in back-to-back years teams make stupid decisions and pass on the most talented player for the most athletic one? If we got Will Anderson at #6 I'd say we already won the 1st round of the draft regardless of what we do next.

Rodgers has to be number one because he is far and away the most talented player on the list and still probably has a few good years left in him. I also think Lamar Jackson needs to be added to this list because there is a real possibility that he's starting somewhere other than Baltimore next season. On the bottom of the list is Tom Brady because no one knows what he'll actually do and he legit started to look washed up last season in Tampa Bay. Brady to me would be the least appealing option, but if you're the Jets and you are trotting out the Ghost of Joe Flacco, Mike White, and Johnny Manziel-lite in Zach Wilson, you'll take a stab at Brady if you miss out on all the rest. I think Baltimore is the best opening for a QB if Lamar doesn't return there. The franchise has one of the best Head Coaches and coaching staffs in football, a great roster outside of the WR and RB positions, and a strong track record of winning and success. I think the Jets are the next most appealing opening. I feel they have a talented roster that could make the playoffs if you plug in a good QB. 1. Rodgers 2. Lamar Jackson 3. Carr 4. Draft Pick 5. Jimmy G 6. Brady

I think the Jets would absolutely break the bank to get him to unretire again. They have a good young core and a dreadful QB situation. They are a QB away from taking that next step.

I think he'll end up somewhere next year starting at QB. He ain't retiring, his ego won't let him. He already ruined his marriage and family life by choosing football over those who love him most, why stop now.

They are firing everyone after one year, so the hope isn't great for Ryans. The Texans are the new Browns of the 2000s and 2010s respectively. They'll be burning out coaches one right after the other so it seems.

And so the debate goes on of what do they need to become an elite team on the level of the 49'ers and Eagles and can they do it with Goff at QB. I'd say they absolutely can give that the 49'ers managed to be very good this year trotting out 3 different starting QBs.

I created an Alternative and Indie Country Music starter kit playlist on Spotify that I thought I'd share. Something to give friends, family, and those I interact with on the internet a good starting point for indie country and americana artists. What you won't find in this playlist are very many major record label artists, nor any modern bro or pop country crap. Little if any songs about tailgates, tan lines, and whatever crap they are signing about in modern "country" these days. What you will find is a collection of real country, americana, and folk music. You will find great song writing and incredible storytelling from true artists interested in making real music. Artists who aren't signed to major record labels, being told what to sing and write about. Enjoy as you wish. The embedded playlist below only displays 100 songs, but I have more than that in there if you click on it.

More good indie country to share with the world. This one is called Jericho Rose from Taylor McCall's self titled 2019 album.