NYLion

Pistons fans (and I know a lot on this board) were screaming for the Pistons to rebuild for years, over a decade really, and that's exactly what Weaver is doing. Not sure why anybody is upset or surprised by this. With that said, this offseason needs to be designed around building a WINNING roster. It'll now be the 3rd FULL year of the rebuild, fans are going to start getting sick of hearing about high draft picks pretty soon.

I don't think Holmes cares about positional need or at least he doesn't make it the highest priority so I can easily see him pass on corner and DT early if the value isn't there. Based on talent alone, that's a pretty good mock for the Lions.

His Pro Day debacle certainly fuels that fire though and validates some of the smoke about work ethic conerns. Nobody knows WHY he showed up at his pro day out of shape but it's certainly something we know for a fact that should raise a red flag.

He clearly didn't design this roster to win now but kind of hard to win anything when half your roster is out most of the post-All Star Break. Still, it's been a season to forget to say the least. The Bagley contract and then subsequent Wiseman trade is another story altogether. I have no idea what he was thinking with that set of transactions or if he was thinking at all. The Bagley contract is one thing but then trading for a redundant player who is also due for a contract just compounds the mistake. In any event, whether or not they won 16,20,25 games doesn't really matter. Once Cade went out, it was pretty much curtains for this season. He's the key to everything really. If they were THIS bad with him, I'd be a lot more concerned.

The difference is that those guys had off the field issues, on the field they were slam dunks, add Parsons in there as well. I think the biggest issue with Carter among his detractors are his rumored lazy habits (and you can see in gameplay that he tends to disappear at times) and then The Pro Day confirming some of these fears. Very reminiscent of Fairley in that respect. I'm not writing off Carter because the upside is so high and I don't really see any franchise talents realistically available at 6 outside of perhaps Tyree Wilson who has all the traits of a potential big time player but the concerns for Carter are very real and legit.

Looking like top 5 is locking in at this point so who is the 5 for you guys. I'm having a hard time after the top 3 (I still have Miller at 3 reluctantly after that abomination of a showing in the tournament). 4 and 5 I'm leaning towards Walker and one of the Thompsons (Ausar seems like a better fit) because of their plus plus athleticism and defensive ability. Same reason I like Walker, Pistons really need a lockdown defender on wing that can shoot ideally. Whitmore and Hendricks are in consideration. Not really interested in anybody else so it's one of those 8 for me.

The beauty of this offseason going into the draft now is that the Lions have no real critical short term needs outside of perhaps DT and LB so they can afford to just pick talent rather than shoehorning pure need into their draft evaluation. Of course, new holes will open up after next season as contracts expire and drafting is always a long term goal but there's no real immediate needs that HAVE TO be addressed in the draft although they could really use a starting DT.

I like the Jones signing because of reliability (something that Chark couldn't offer) and leadership especially for someone like Jamo who could really use a mentor. I do think he's a bit of a downgrade on Chark in terms of what he brings to the field at this point in his career mainly because Chark had more of an ability to separate and stretch the field but the hope is that Jamo becomes that big play threat. Either way, this is solid depth and a great guy for the locker room.

Yeah, that's my issue with this pick especially with the Lions in win now mode not to mention the issue of Skoronski with the T-Rex arms likely forcing him to guard long term. Skoronski would be a long term play which is fine but you're likely not getting much from him next season and if I'm doing a long term play at pick 6 for a player who will be a backup to start, it'll be a QB because of positional importance (not that I'd want to do that either).

Decker is a huge part of the leadership group and is a pretty good tackle to boot. There's no way they trade him now IMO. If the Lions take Skoronski, it's likely to replace Jackson in a year and then Decker in two if he can show capable of playing tackle.

Nah, I think it's more a case of teams not wanting to give him an injury prone running QB with diminishing stats the last few seasons a fully guaranteed max contract while also parting with two 1sts. I wouldn't doubt that NFL agents are capable of collusion but I think this is more a case of the risk outweighing the reward with Lamar's market value. Somebody will bite eventually because his upside is too tantalizing especially for treadmill franchises like Atlanta and Washington that desperately need an injection of excitement but it's understandable why nobody is chomping at the bit currently to take the plunge.

I think that's why you see a lot of scouts split on him and why a guy like Paris Johnson who might be an inferior prospect but is a surefire tackle is starting to get some top 10 mention. Skoronski's length is a real concern in terms of projecting him to tackle so it's a hard sell for GMs to lock him in at top 10 if he can't play tackle long term. The question for the Lions is if they project him to slide over to tackle to replace Decker in 2 years then it might be worth it but if he's a Jackson or VaiTai replacement then... not so much with Jackson leaving because they don't want to pay a guard top money being even more reason to pass on Skoronski at 6 if that's the role they seem him in long term.

Can the Lions even fit Hopkins contract in and you'd prefer a 31 year old Hopkins over a 25 year old Simmons? Yeah the acquisition cost for Hopkins would be cheaper but I see Simmons having more impact and can be a part of a long term plan. Is Sewell the elite tackle you're referencing? His new contract won't kick in for another 2 years.

That's one of the few picks that I'd absolutely hate at 6. A guy that likely doesn't start for a year or two and has smallish arms which could very well make him a guard long term. Absolute worst case scenario for me. I guess taking a TE at 6 would be the only thing that would be worse. The Lions got three guards that were long time starters in the league in Glasgow, Warford and now Jackson in the 3rd round. There will be plenty available in the 2nd or 3rd to take. #6 should be about upside and while Skoronski has a pretty high floor, you need more potential impact at 6.

Why would that be an issue? What else are you using the cap for if not an elite 25 year old DT?

Yes because I'm speculating that Simmons would be worth more than #18 straight up.

I guess it depends on how one sees the value difference between Simmons and #18. If we're purely using the Buckner trade as a baseline then Simmons is probably worth more than #18 so maybe a more minor return than the draft point charts would indicate to drop from 6 to 11. So without looking at the charts currently, I would assume that it'll normally take roughly a 2nd to move up from 11 to 6 so I'd say that your 2nd trade of Simmons+#11+#72 for #6+#18 seems about right and would be a no brainer for me.

The Buckner trade was #13 I believe so I'm just spitballing that if the Titans want something in addition to #18 that maybe a swap of 6 and 11 would complete the trade. Maybe the Lions could add an additional mid round pick if that's preferrable.

I'd give up #18 for Simmons in a heartbeat if the Titans were willing. I'd even consider adding a future 3rd or something like that if need be. An elite DT right in the middle of his prime would be a perfect add. Yeah they'd have to pay him after next season but is something that I'd be more than willing to do. He's only 26 and DT's generally age pretty well. With that said, I just don't see Holmes going THAT big but then again I didn't think he would do much more than re-sign guys during free agency and he wound up making about 3 more big moves than I thought he'd make so I'll probably be wrong about this too. Edit: I'd probably do the above proposed #6+#18 for Simmons+#11 as well. Actually, I'd definitely do that. They'd have #11, Simmons both of their 2nds and 3rd. Sign me up for that.

I think you need to also account for cushions for in season moves, practice squad players being elevated, injuries etc. so I'd say it's around 8-10m to spend when calculating all the other budget spending. Still enough for one more significant add.

Incredible really. It also shows that players want to be here by taking paycuts to prevent getting cut outright. Okwara and Vaitai in particular took big paycuts, created around $16m of cap space between them two alone. I'm almost expecting Chark to be back now or at least one more fairly significant add of some kind.

I don't see Goff doing that and I'm not sure that Holmes is ready to commit to that.

Maybe but I think at this point in time that some people are skeptical that Goff will be worth top of the market money based on his up and down last 4 seasons. If he puts together another strong year next season and leads them to a playoff win or more, the perception will likely change but until that happens I can understand the concern of extended him at a premium rate. FTR, I went to bat for Goff a lot this season but also understand why there would be questions about committing to him as THE franchise guy long term.

The QB market is heavily inflated where mediocre to good QBs are getting premium contracts. I think most like Goff especially at $30m/yr but not at the $45-50m it will likely cost to retain him if he has another good season unless it's more than a good season. If he takes the Lions deep into the playoffs then I'm sure the next contract concerns will lessen somewhat.

Yeah, I was going to add backup QB too but I'm one of those fans who think the position is less critical than others seem to make it out to be especially since QBs (pocket passers specifically) don't get injured as much as they used to. I'd rather the QB be a developmental guy than a retread, in any event.