NYLion

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I think he is in that elite tier, and I think he would probably be the best pass-rushing DT we've had since Suh. I don't want to get into a bidding war for a 28yo though

Alim is as good a pass rusher (look at his pressure rate) and is a lot younger. Wilkins excels at run defense but throughout most of his career hasn't been much of a pass rusher, he just so happened to find that pass rush magic in his contract year lucky enough for him. Really glad that the Lions weren't the ones giving him the bag.

Stay away from Wilkins. Non-elite DT that will get elite money, more known for his run defending than his pass rush even though he had nice sack numbers last year. The Lions need to allocate resources to other positions anyway and need to pay Alim soon.

4 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

I didn't think Goff was going to get less than $50 million under the old cap. I think his contract will push $250 and possibly ahead of Hurts. 

I was thinking of 4 years $200m but 5 at 250 wouldn't be surprising either and all the usual haters will be poking fun at SOL signing Goff at that contract, clueless haters I should say.

3 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

This contract is bonkers.   $21M for a guard.  Wow.

 

The cap rose by $30m so every new contract is going to look like an overpay but it's the new market that people need to get used to. The market we saw last year doesn't exist anymore. This is why I'd be floored if Goff took a penny less than $50m/yr.

22 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Landon Dickerson signed a four-year extension with the Eagles. Jonah Jackson is sitting somewhere refreshing his Twitter feed to see the compensation.

Dickerson is better than Jonah, not a comparable IMO.

41 minutes ago, buddha said:

i hope they dont trade for sneed.  that's a ton of money for a guy who commits a ton of penalties.

if they do, then maybe a 4th or 5th, nothing more than that.  

He'll be pricey in terms of trade capital and contract. I'd rather aim for a B level guy like Fuller who won't cost a premium asset and come at a more reasonable number. It's not like Sneed is Revis Island or prime Ramsey, he's good but not the elite of the elite.

13 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Gafford is just embarrassing Duren now.  Blocked him easy at the rim then out hustled him down the court for the easy dunk while Duren was 8 feet behind him.

I know he's young but I'm getting serious Drummond vibes from him. Effort comes and goes, horrible defense (terrible rim protector), tries to do too much on offense at times, low basketball IQ. I think he has more raw athleticism than Andre and has better free throw touch but...yeah, he's Drummond.

45 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

He is shooting 30% from three since the all star break.  He shot 29% in February and 27% so far this month.  

Horrible numbers for sure.  But for some context, he shot 15% before the all star game.

30% is a big improvement on what he was shooting the first half of the season. Slowly but surely like I said. If he can get that percentage up to 33-35% or so, he's an All Star level player in 2-3 years like a better Herb Jones although he'll never be as good a long range shooter as Herb is.

Slowly but surely, Ausar is starting bring up that 3 point percentage. Maybe it's just a blip but it's worth noting since he's also done that before towards the end of last season. Big if he can get that thing up to merely league average because he's really good at everything else.

16 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Not saying you are wrong.  It’s definitely in Brad’s MO.  But what’s he going to do with that $50M in cap money if he doesnt spend in FA? Obviously, a good portion will go to extensions but unless he frontloads at least one there still would seem to be a nice pile of money left around.  

Bingo. That's stash money for extensions, that $50m is going to be gone at the blink of an eye once all these guys get extended the next 2 years but it also depends on the contract structures like you said. Amon-Ra's raise alone will cover almost half of that.

While it does appear that the Lions SB window is just opening, I'd argue that last season and this upcoming season might be their best shot at a SB considering all the bargain rookie contracts they have and Goff's current contract. It's going to get a lot more difficult to build depth once everybody gets paid so there is/was some validation for going all in now and last deadline tbh.

12 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Do we at all think the Lions see Sutton and Mosley as their CBs #1 and #2 and don't address the position with either a big time free agent signing or high draft pick?

No, not at all.

20 hours ago, RatkoVarda said:

it would be a show of incredible hubris to think you can ignore one of the NFL's major talent infusion streams (free agency) and still build a SB winner

the Chiefs and the Patriots routinely spent significant money in free agency during their SB runs

nothing wrong to prioritizing your guys, but when you have gaping holes on your roster at CB and DE, it would be a huge mistake to not use free agency to make your team better

I'm not saying to ignore free agency, I'm saying that I don't see Holmes going for the big name free agents. If you look at the biggest free agent contracts over the years, they usually don't work out for the team because you're generally paying these guys for what they were not what they will be.

How many Superbowl cores were built through free agency? I can't think of many.

On 2/3/2024 at 11:38 AM, MichiganCardinal said:

Free agency is very deep at corner this year. Jaylon Johnson, L'Jarius Sneed, and Kendall Fuller could be signed and instantly be the CB1 on this team, and there are probably a dozen guys who could be signed to be CB2 across from Sutton (who will have hopefully figured it the **** out again by August).

Given the goal next year is a Super Bowl, I don't think they will take a corner at #29, unless one of the top ones fall. Corners more often than not need time to develop (even more so than linebackers). I think they might take an heir apparent in the 2nd or 3rd round, but I think it'll be a plug-and-play edge rusher or DT at #29.

This generally isn't how the Lions draft though, in terms of plug and play and need. The Lions are one of the most unpredictable drafting teams (outside of the obvious Hutch and Sewell picks) because they don't care about need, NFL readiness or positional importance. They simply take talented guys that fit their culture, they're very big on the culture thing in particular, so outside of QB I think any position is up for grabs with the 1st round pick and that's at the oft chance that Holmes actually drafts at 29. I'd say that the only likelihoods that we can almost say for certain is that the Lions won't take a QB or RB with their first pick wherever that lands or any player with even a hint of turd in them.

26 minutes ago, Stanley70 said:

The circumstances now are far different than they have been in the first two years. Not only do they have a much better team but they are in a better postion cap wise as well. One of The Athletic's rumor guys said the Lions are looking to add a top flight corner this off season. 

Personally that is what i'd like to see. If you rely on the draft and the mid level free agent bin it's probably 50/50 that you get a guy better than Cam Sutton.

We'll see and I could be wrong but I believe when he says very clearly that he's sticking with the plan and won't waiver. I like the plan btw, I never liked the idea of chasing big name free agents most of which will get paid for what they did not what they will do throughout the duration of the next contract.

23 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I still maintain that they were going to draft Witherspoon at #6 if the Seahawks hadn't taken him at #5. Beyond that, I think they would have taken Christian Gonzalez at #18 if the Patriots hadn't taken him at #17.

I think these were pretty much confirmed. You can even see the groan in the War Room when Gonzalez got swiped by the Patriots. The trade down occurred right after Witherspoon was taken so it's clear that he was their guy. There were also rumors that they were willing to trade up for Anderson. 

In any event, and I do think Captain Jack will be a good player, but it was really bad luck that the Patriots stole Gonzalez. He got injured last season anyway but imagine this team long term with Gonzalez locking down one of those corners? So close but so far away.

On 3/3/2024 at 11:41 AM, Mr.TaterSalad said:

He's 28 years and this will likely be his last opportunity at a big contract. I would guess he'll want a 4 year plus deal. I've seen projections of north of $20 million per for Wilkins too. These aren't the types of contracts and players we will be signing IMO. I'd like to sign one of the marquee free agents like Wilkins, but I don't think we will be. It's best to lower expectations now, that way you won't be disappointed later. 

It's not going to happen, at least I don't think it will. People keep throwing big names out there and trying to link them to the Lions, or will them to the Lions I should say, but that's not how Holmes operates and I don't see him as a man that will change his convictions based on the landscape or where the Lions are at in the process.

The core will be drafted, developed and re-signed then he'll add guys from outside to supplement the core. I don't see names like Chris Jones, Sneed, Hunter, Burns, Wilkins etc. being remotely realistic. The only way I see a big name coming to the Lions is if it's a guy that's looking to score on a 1 year prove it contract like CJGJ last year. Other than that. I think Holmes is going to stay the course.

44 minutes ago, buddha said:

muscala trade wasnt the b&b trade, it was the bagley salary dump that we had to give two picks away to do.

Damn, my bad. I think I just blocked that trade out of my memory. I think that was a fine trade too to get Bagley off the team for one and, two, to get his extra year contract off the books. Nothing groundbreaking but getting rid of these one dimensional defensively deficient players (The Team Ball Killer B's) can only be a good thing. On the other hand, getting Bagley in the first place and then doubling down on stupidity by paying him is another story.

32 minutes ago, Betrayer said:

Good to see a win despite Monty's attempts to bungle it. Starters were +24 and the bench was -14.

This coach can't figure out how to stagger his two best creators so we have to watch the Malachi Flynn creation show with 4 other bench guys. It's just a mind boggling level of ineptitude from this coaching staff.

And now Muscala's has been waived, making that trade even worse, but also clearing the way for Wiseman to play heavy minutes for the remainder of the year.

It was a good trade (getting rid of B&B in itself was good) but, yeah, Monty's rotations are baffling.

16 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

I'll throw it out there. Do the Lions go after Jones? McNeil and Jones would be an amazing duo up the middle with Hutchinson on the edge. 

No chance IMO. Can't see Holmes giving max money to an aging player at any position. Jones is amazing no doubt but he's going to be 30 when the season starts, don't see Holmes being in the market for him. That would be a true "all in" move.

On 2/23/2024 at 10:15 AM, buddha said:

for all the lauding of houston and the hand wringing about how they were more successful in their rebuild than detroit, the rockets are currently 4.5 games out of TENTH in the west.

are they better than detroit this year?  duh.  of course.  every team not named the washington wizards is better than detroit this year.

but are they a success?  i dont think so.  and are they going to be better than detroit long term?  that still remains to be seen.  depends on whether the pistons can turn this cap space into useful parts.

I also think this is a better Pistons team post-ASB with more young hungry two way players and less old chuckers on the roster so the overall season record likely won't be indicative of the level of team they have going into the offseason. They are far off from even being a play-in team as of now but are certainly better than 9-49 bad.

8 hours ago, Deleterious said:

I like consistency and they had been letting them play all night. I'm good with a no call there 

 

What consistency? So DiVincenzo can barrel into Ausar but then Duren gets called for jumping straight up as Hart barrels into him? How is that consistent? The Pistons are a deservedly bad team but they've getting the **** end of calls a lot this season.

18 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Possession is definitely lost.  It could even be said a foul on the Pistons should’ve been the call.  

Ausar got bodychecked, possession or not. It's a loose ball foul, obvious as a call gets. Even the Knicks announcers were saying that it was a missed call.

Pistons got robbed at the end but wins and losses don't matter much so whatever. Positive signs from Cade, Grimes, Fontecchio is all that matters. Duren needs to be better on the defensive boards.

5 hours ago, buddha said:

the reverance with which the media has always treated the knicks always bugs me.

the knicks have never won shiite other than a small run in the early 70s that the knick fans WONT STOP TALKING ABOUT like that was the greatest team since sliced bread.

that said, i did roor for them once upon a time when they were battling jordan.  but that's it.

although i will take them over the nets.

They're like the Cowboys. Always talked about as if they're some model franchise, always getting hype year after year because they're a "glamour" franchise but haven't actually done anything worth a **** in the last 30 years.

Holmes doesn't give an F about anybody's mock draft, Holmes doesn't give an F about drafting for need or positional importance. He's in the market for good football players who fit their culture regardless of position. Of course there's a limit to that (I don't see him drafting the best QB available in the 1st round for instance) but, generally, do NOT expect him to ride with the consensus.

Also, I would not expect any big long term commitments in free agency regardless of cap space. We could see a mid level guy like Sutton type of deal again but for those expecting Chris Jones, or Danielle Hunter or even a guy like Sneed from KC, I don't see it.