Detroit Lions Mailbag: Top edge or top corner in free agency?
Football never really stops. While the games aren't happening right now, the team building phase is about to hit the ground running. The NFL Combine is next week and free agency opens up the week after. We've got questions about this phase, lets get to them. I think the Lions may have some interest in […]
Football never really stops. While the games aren't happening right now, the team building phase is about to hit the ground running. The NFL Combine is next week and free agency opens up the week after. We've got questions about this phase, lets get to them.
I think the Lions may have some interest in building there, but since they've never shown themselves to be a team that will pay top dollar to a free agent, I don't know if that is something they're willing to do. The top edge rushers are getting paid a lot of money these days. It's almost like having another high priced quarterback on the roster.
What I do think they'll attack aggressively is corner and I think they'll try to get one or two of the better ones on the board. That's expensive, but not top pass rusher expensive.
I think more than anything it's about the money. Teams just aren't going to want to pay a guy $12.8 million after they benched him and made him inactive during the playoffs. If Walker made half that in 2024, I truly believe there'd be a chance that he'd still be on this team.
As for Gardner-Johnson, That's pretty up in the air right now. The Lions probably should be looking to bring him back and I think that he probably wants to come back, but can they agree on a deal?
Personally I think trading up would be a mistake unless you're going for a top tier talent. The juice has to really be worth the squeeze here. So if they do trade up, it's got to be to a top 10 pick. Trading up higher into the 20's when you're already into the 20's feels like a waste of assets. Trading into the top 10 says "we're going for a guy that's going to start immediately." It would also be a sign that the Lions are all in on trying to win the Super Bowl in 2024 and beyond.
Just know that if the Lions trade up at all, it's going to cost them. If they try to trade up to the top 10, it's going to cost them a lot.
Anything is possible. I think the Lions have a strong shot at drafting Sweat either in the first or the second as things stand right now. As far as Hunter goes, like I said at the top, that is a very expensive endeavor. Our cap specialists projected that he would get a three year. $67 million deal. That's a lot of lettuce. Are the Lions willing to pay a free agent that much money?
Keep in mind that an extension for McNeil is right around the corner and Aidan Hutchinson is surely going to get top edge rusher money when his extension comes up soon too. This could be one of the most expensive defensive lines in the league if they have Hunter there too. It's already bound to be pricey without him.
That would be interesting. The first thing that makes my ears perk up is that he's almost five years younger than Reynolds. There's a lot of similarities otherwise. They both have some contested catch ability, but not a ton. Reynolds showed to be better in that category in 2023. They also have similar size with Reynolds coming in an inch taller. Davis is going to be a lot more expensive than Reynolds and that's the big difference maker.
Davis is slated to get a three year, $37 million deal and Reynolds is slated to get a two year, $11 million deal. Couple that with the fact that Reynolds has a rapport with Goff already and it seems like that's the way they would go.
Jared Goff has more than proven to be a top 10 quarterback in the last two seasons. For about half of this past season he was Pro Football Focus's highest graded quarterback. He had a big season for the Lions. There was a rough four game stretch, but outside of that, Goff was very good and then he was very good in the playoffs too.
The Lions have their guy and they're lucky to have him. The Lions are where they are right now because they have Goff and they didn't have to worry about drafting a quarterback.
7 round mock Detroit Lions mock draft ahead of the combine
The NFL combine starts next Tuesday and usually the combine will be accompanied by changes in draft stock. Players are going to rise and fall after all the running and jumping they do next week. So we're going to get one more mock draft in before that starts and then we'll come back for a […]
