NYLion

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.

I don't see edge rusher as a real need although you can never have enough quality edge rushers (I have Wilson as my favorite for #6 even though he doesn't fill a big need). I think the biggest needs are a DT to team with McNeil, WR if Chark walks, long term solution at guard, long term solution at CB and linebacker obviously. However, I wouldn't say any of those are critical needs outside of LB which is a testament to how well Holmes has built this roster. It makes this draft process more fun because he could just pick talent as opposed to filling needs which leads me to believe that we might see more offense picks than people might think.

I think that's the likely top 5 with Richardson being taken before Levis. In this case, I take Tyree Wilson and he's the type of player this staff would fall in love with with all the size and athletic traits to go with versatility. He's kind of like the Travon Walker of this class with more college production.

Eagles are still the favorites.

Yep. 2014 was arguably the most talented Lions team maybe ever (as sad as that sounds) but the Suh leaving dark cloud was hanging over the team that season so it was kind of an "all in" season. Suh being all emotional after the Dallas loss basically confirmed that he was gone so expectations were tempered that offseason.

I never really believed in that team, 1991 seemed like a bit of a fluke playing above its talent level. I actually thought the 1995 and 2014 teams were the best Lions teams in my lifetime but there wasn't much offseason hype headed into either year, not like we're going to experience this offseason I'm sure.

You can never have enough depth on the defensive line but, yes, it's a lot of bodies although I wouldn't count on Levi to be a regular at this moment. It's the same with the secondary. Sutton, Moseley, CJGJ, Okudah, Jacobs, Walker, Joseph, Harris, Iffy, Moore, Lucas? The first 7 are all starter quality. I'm not sure if this will play into Holmes draft strategy but I do expect him to consolidate a few of the picks and trade up at some point early in the draft. I expected a trade up before free agency because Holmes mentality is to be aggressive but even moreso now after free agency.

I wouldn't be shocked. I know these are 1 year deals so it doesn't necessarily rule out corner and safety in the 1st round but it lessens the urgency to draft one early so it gives Holmes the flexibility to splurge on a luxury or take a risk. I think WR is possible in the 1st as well.

Holmes is a mad scientist this off-season and I'm here for all of it. These deals are perfect. It opens up the draft to more possibilities now and these guys will either re-sign here if they perform or the Lions will get a crapload of comp picks and filter in more cheap young talent to replace them while the new wave of "prove it" deals get signed. This is what good organizations do, this feels odd as a long suffering Lions fan and very settling.

I said this to you the other day. David has played his whole career in Tampa so he clearly took a discount to stay there. The Lions would have to overpay to bring him in and likely for multiple years. With that said, it's hard to argue that the Anzalone contract isn't an overpay but if he played like he did the second half of last season, it'll be fine value but that's a big IF considering the bigger sample size of his career not being at that level.

He was a turnstile at guard, was very good filling in for Ragnow the year before. The problem for his free agency status is that his play at guard was more recent so it likely created a very weak market for him. I think the Lions saw Glasgow as a more dependable option being the veteran and all.

Yeah he could have chosen better role models to inspire him but I just think it's a case of those two being the most identifiable modern black QBs. Mahomes has too much white in him.

Grant is also a lot more efficient once he freed himself of Casey and it's not like his usage has gone down in Portland so....yeah.

Precisely, I'm surprised that others didn't pick up on this sooner. Has nothing to do with their off the field stuff or their play style. it's more likely that it's a black athlete that is inspired by other black athletes at a position that's been predominantly white historically.

I highly doubt that David wanted to leave Tampa, he clearly took a discount to stay, and I'd bet that Wagner will either go to a SB contender or back to Seattle. Not that I'm a big fan of the Anzalone deal but it's better that they got him locked up early rather than end up with nobody or some lower tier guy who needs to learn the system.

His perceived character concerns were way different than Carter's, not nearly as serious off the field and he had no work ethic/laziness issues whatsoever. With that said, I'd still consider Carter at 6 because he has the highest upside of any player in this draft including QBs but there's real risk and I highly doubt it's a risk that Dan and Brad are interested in taking on. "No Turds Allowed", these guys live by that phrase.

No thank you. Didn't want to draft one of these corners at 6 before free agency and definitely not now. For me, it's either one of the top 2 defensive guys, Wilson or maybe even Kancey who has an intriguing skillset, continue to build a killer line. I just don't think any of these corners are standouts and the class is so deep at corner that they can get a quality one later in the draft perhaps with one of the 2nds.

Disagree. The Lions have nobody with Chark's size and speed combo that can catch 50/50 balls, Jamo doesn't supply that. Without Chark, the Lions have a #1 in Amon Ra but still more of a slot guy, a question mark in Jamo and a few #3/4 guys. They need Chark or at least somebody to replace his production/presence. I wouldn't overpay Chark (I'd give him the Meyers contract at max) but he'd need to be replaced with a drafted WR most likely.

I get the feeling that most Lions fans like the signing but were also attached to Williams so more conflicted than anything. On the field, he's a better player so taking the emotional attachment away I don't see how this is anything but a positive. I know that 2nd contracts to RBs can be problematic but this is a fairly low risk contract, 6m/yr for arguably a top 10 RB that is durable and 25 years old is fine value.

I think that would be the smart move. Obviously Swift isn't getting the 2nd contract now (which we kind of knew already anyway) so might as well get a little value out of him and take the cheap contract rookie.

This is a tough one for me. I think Montgomery is the better player and the much younger player as well but damn I loved Jamaal the person and culture fit. Probably good from a football standpoint but from a fan feeling standpoint, it kind of sucks.

I think we'll see Harris only in nickel packages so it's likely we see both on the field at times. Could see Harris lineup outside at times.

Moseley is arguably better than Sutton when healthy, he's not competing for playing time. The only issue is that he might not start the season due to injury recovery (tore his ACL last October) but this is one of the top corners on the market had he not gotten injured.

A+ on that Cominsky deal, sort of cancels out the Anzalone slight overpay. Moseley is a terrific get too assuming that he's healthy. If they can get Jamaal back on a reasonable deal, this is an A free agency.