This is truly one of my favorite things to do each year. With free agency coming up there's plenty of Detroit Lions fans that take to Twitter and put out tweets that say something to the effect of "Lions should sign blank."

This is my time to break some hearts and explain why you really don't want the Lions to sign some of those guys. This is part one of this series here at AtoZ Sports, but I've been doing it at Pride of Detroit for years. 

For the first timers, there is going to be one player per story where I won't complain if the Lions do sign that guy. Alright, let's jump into it.

J.J. Watt

You're probably thinking "Mike this guy is retired?" You'd be thinking the same thing that I have been thinking all year when I've gotten tweets like this. 

Time to call @JJWatt ??‍♂️

— Dtberry51 (@dtberry51) November 14, 2023

Watt is retired and from the looks of it, he plans to start a boy band and try to sky rocket to the top of TRL. Either that or he plans to stand outside of an Abercrombie & Fitch with his shirt off. He's not coming out of retirement when he has a full investment in a pomade company that he needs to monitor. 

Seriously though, this guy is done playing. If there was some story where he was pondering a return this year, then I clearly missed it. Also don't pick on this guy on Twitter. He was far from the only one doing that. This guy wanted it in the NFC Championship game.

Do JJ Watt next

— onepride since ‘89 (@luckylodes13) January 22, 2024

Yannick Ngakoue

I get why this one would be tempting. Ngakoue has had 8 plus sacks in seven of his last eight seasons. That did not happen in 2023 though. He had four for the Bears and had the worst season of his career. He finished with a PFF grade of 39.9. That's one of the worst at his position. 

Ngakoue has also played for five teams in four years. There has to be something about this guy that makes teams not want to bring him back. I don't think the Lions need to find out what that is at this point. 

Tyler Boyd

There’s a rumor going around right now that the Lions are working on an extension that could pay Amon-Ra St. Brown $25 million a year. I do not know how accurate that rumor is or the validity of it’s source, but if St. Brown got that, it would make total sense considering how good he is. 

What doesn't make sense is that guy I saw on Twitter saying that St. Brown isn't worth that and that the Lions could easily replace his production with a signing of Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd. 

Here's the problem, St. Brown had 119 receptions for 1,515 yards this year. Boyd had 67 receptions for 667 yards. Boyd hasn't touched production like St. Browns since 2019 and he still wasn't particularly close that year either.

I've been saying all year that the Lions need a big bodied receiver to come in and help out and Boyd could be that, but he not a replacement for St. Brown at 29-years-old. 

Calais Campbell

I love Calais Campbell. It’s hard not to. He’s the ageless wonder. This guy has been playing since 2008! That’s insane to think that a player would play this long. Somehow he’s still managed to be productive at this age too. He had 6.5 sacks last year. Do the Lions need to be the next team to find out if he can keep that going?

Campbell will be 38-years-old when Week 1 starts next season. Our on staff cap specialists project that Campbell would command a one year deal worth $8.5 million for his services. That's not a bank breaker, but it's also not a small amount of money. Maybe Campbell signs somewhere and that production continues. But there's going to be a stopping point somewhere, there always is, and it doesn't need to be found in Detroit. 

For the record, this is my one player this week that I wouldn't complain about the Lions signing if they decided to do it. Would love to see a bit of a cheaper deal though. 

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