Lions Blog: 2018 Off-Season Free Agency

The free agency period for the Detroit Lions was mostly know for the notable players who left than the players who were added. People at the time did not really know the new head coach or what direction he was taking the team, especially on the defensive side and few knew what to make of the new players other than that they came mostly from New England and that they were not flashy signings. Meanwhile the players that left were big names that people got use to over the years and their departure with seemingly inadequate replacements if any caused a great deal of concern about where Matt Patrica was taking the team. I have been regretting not starting this blog sooner so I could have covered this period at the time it happened but I am also thankful that I didn't because I likely would have overreacted to things that I did not understand just like everyone else. With time and the draft behind us I wanted to blog about the notable moves in free agency Acquisitions and Departures. I choose the ones that I thought were either the most interesting or relevant.

Acquisitions
  Offense

• LeGarrete Blount, RB: Over the past 4 years the statistic that the national and local media has been hounding the most is the number of games the Lions have gone without a 100 yard rusher. It was Thanks giving in 2013 and that RB was Reggie Bush, who was also the last rusher to go at least 1000 yards in a season. The first big free agent addition to the roster this off season was a running back with 2 Super Bowl rings from 2 different teams from the last two years and his name is LeGarrete Blount. Blount is a power rusher who is good at short yardage downs and pushing the pile forward, which is something Detroit completely lacked for years. Last year there were far too many situations where the Lions were first and goal from the 5 yard line or less and they could not push through to save their own lives (playoff lives that is) and would wind up settling for a field goal on 4th down or worse, going for it and failing. Blount's addition is guaranteed to improve those situations at least by a little and that alone could make a big difference. 
• Luke Willson, TE: At start of Free Agency the Lions found themselves with a large need for a new starting Tight end (I will get into the whys of that later in this post) and went out signed former Sea-hawks TE Luke Wilson (who came from the Windsor, ON area). Wilson was the team's second tight end (after Jimmy Graham) and now going to a team with a more pass heavy offense and a clear shot at the number one tight end spot should easily have a career year here in Detroit. This was the case with both Marvin Jones and former Sea-hawk  Golden Tate who were both lower down the depth chart in their former teams and exploded when moving here. As a tight end Wilson does not have the athleticism or the big numbers of Eric Ebron but he has been  a better blocker and a more consistent pass catcher (i.e. fewer drops) and above all he is far cheaper to have on the roster. I am hopeful that he  will succeed here although I am still not happy about the reason why his services were needed to begin with as I will get into later. 

  Defense 

• Christian Jones, LB: A former Bears LB, Jones was one of the later fee agents signed by Bob Quinn this off season. I don't really know much about him but he seems to be part of a complete overhaul of the Line backers and there fore the front seven of the team's defense under Matt Patricia. With the Lions moving to a system that will include 3-4 schemes I expect much of the teams pass rushing to come from line backers such as Jones. For the sake of it I will include a link to this Pride of Detroit Article dated 3-29-18 that goes into some detail about Jones. The article seems to suggest he will likely be a rotational player but could be used in blitzing situations. 
• Devon Kennard, LB: The team's biggest free agent addition was a Line Backer from the New York Football Giants in both contract size and impact on defense, Devon Kennard should come in a be a full time starter in place of another LB that left the team this year. This Pride of Detroit Article dated 3-21-18 suggest that he is good against the run and can play from the Defensive line as well. As I stated before the team will have a new defense that will change between 3- and 4-3 as well as other sub packages so I expect to see Kennard on the field a whole lot this season in many different positions. 
• DeShawn Shead, CB: I did not expect the Lions to do much with the secondary this off season with how well it did last year but I was wrong. A former Sea-hawk, Deshawn Head comes in to replace DJ Hayden (who left in free agency)will likely take turns with Nevin Lawson opposite of Darius Slay as an outside corner. In Seatle he played opposite of Richard Sherman and should provide better depth at the one position in the secondary that seemed iffy last year.  
• Sylvester Williams, DT:  One of the few Defensive lineman acquired in this off season is Sylvester Williams from the Titans of Tennessee and according to this Pride of Detroit Interview dated April 3, 2018 was not very consistent with his former team and is probably better as a rotational player.  The important thing to note is that Williams is a Nose Tackle. Part of a 3-4 defense includes a Nose Tackle, which is the lone defensive tackle between two defensive ends. The nose tackle is primarily there to absorb blockers and push the pocket, which is on of the few positives the interview highlights on Williams. It still seems (to me at least) the Lions will be in a 4-3 defense with a nickle sub-package more than 3-4 and that will be the case for most of this year as Patricia learns what he has to work with this year. I expect that this year will be on for learning for the front 7 and as such Williams might not be used as much this year (I hope to cover more on that font 7 change this off season with a specific post).

Departures 
  Offense 

• Eric Ebron, TE: The first truly questionable decision made by Bob Quinn in his time as General Manager was cutting Eric Ebron right before the start of free agency. Ebron was the Lion's first round pick from 2014 taken before many higher rated players such as O.B.J. and many fans have never forgiven him or the team for taking him. I was never one of those people. It's true that he had some issues with dropped balls but he also stretched the play field vertically drawing defenders away from players like Golden Tate in the process. Ebron was called a mismatch nightmare by many and this seems to fit because he is much more of a wide receiver than a traditional tight end (he was also not much in the blocking department). Ebron was cut due purely cap space reasons according to the team and I hope that is the case. The team has yet to use much of this cap space but I hope it will result in a big contract extension for Golden Tate. I also hope the loss of Ebron won't result in Tate not being able to get open as much due to having more defenders covering him that would have been covering Ebron. 
• Travis Swanson, C: The last of the Martin Meyhew starting offensive lineman, Travis Swanson has missed the last hand full of games at the end of the season due to injury every year since 2015, often ending the team's playoff chances. I just knew last year that if Swanson did not return from his concussion that he would be gone in free agency. I am not happy about that as I though quite highly of Swanson and that he at one point was considered one of the better centers in the league. With Swanson gone, the role of center is up for grabs between Gram Glasgow and our first round pick from this year, which I will get into in the next post. 
• Darren Fells, TE: As a back up to Eric Ebron, the Lions brought in a Veteran Tight End Darren Fells late last off season. Fells was supposed to bolster the pass protection and give another receiver for Stafford. At the start of the season Fells seem to be one of the team's top pass catchers at a time when Ebron was struggling. As the season went Ebron surged and Fells, well, he just fell and disappeared for the rest of the season. He departed the team in free agency despite the Lions efforts to keep him here, indicating that they wanted him back. 

 
  Defense 

• Haloti Ngata, DT: On the defensive line front, free agency has been more know for the team's departures than its arrivals, One such case is long time veteran DT Haloti Ngata. Having been signed in 2015 after the departures of Suh and Fairley, Ngata was brought in to be a premier run stuffer and leader on the defensive side. He was never supposed to be a replacement for either of those players who left but was seen by many fans as such anyway, as such he never lived up to the expectations of fans. He was having what seemed to be the best year of his time here in Detroit in 2017 when he suffered a season ending injury near the midpoint of the season. The team's run defense suffered greatly as a result. With this in mind I was sure that the team would give him at least a year extension as he stated he did not want to retire (not wanting to end his career on a season ending injury). While the team made an effort to resign him, the change in coaching and the schematic change to the defense caused him to seek more agreeable pastures elsewhere (in this case to the Eagles). 
• Tahir Whitehead, LB: The linebacker corp has seen the biggest change over these past few off seasons in the Bob Quinn era (at least on the defense side) and the departure of Tahir Whitehead is the biggest example of that this off season. With the departure of Tulloch, Whitehead was pressed into service as the middle linebacker in 2016 where he did not do so well. In 2017 the Lions Drafted Jarred Davis to take over that role and move Whitehead Weak linebacker spot where he had his best year with the team. Like with Ngata, I was sure the team would give him a contract extension, and I like Ngata I was wrong with Whitehead as well. The Lions move to a different defensive style likely cost Whitehead his role here as the team is moving to linebackers that can function better in the pass rush game.  
• Brandon Copeland, LB: One of the two defensive players for the Lions to suffer a season ending injury from the first preseason game in 2017, Brandon Copeland had great potential coming off of a 5 sack season in 2016. Copeland for me was a shoe in to be resigned by the team as he spent as much time on the defensive line as a DE as he did as a LB. To me this seemed like an obvious fit in a flexible defense like Patricia ran in New England and is now bringing to Detroit, a LB who was also a DE on a team that needed more of both, especially in the pass rushing department. Copeland's departure in free agency is perhaps the most puzzling to me, especially as he seemed recovered from his injury. I hope there is method behind this madness because there certainty seems to be madness behind the method.     

The Lions once again used free agency to address holes in the roster created by free agency. People expected the team to go after mostly pass rushers on the defensive line in the draft but as we all know, that did not happen. Its pretty hard to judge FA on its own without looking at the draft but overall I don't think it was nearly as bad as people say. The team is clearly reworking its defense to be more linebacker centered and throwing everything at the run game, which I  cover in a article about the draft. The NFL off season is a long one and I hope to have at least a  few more post written by training camp in late July.