3 more moves...?

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
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I know this might be pie in the sky…

A) Suh or Rankins- either 2 years 13M with 7M guaranteed. 6M paid in year one. This signing is easily affirmed by immediately cutting Nick Williams minutes later to save nearly 5M.

B) KJ Wright still plenty left. Leader and well rounder LB

C) K Jackson, D Kazee, or M Hooker-

If we could somehow land any two… I’d be happy. Veteran players on D that will allow us to see what
We have in our young guys would be great.

Hooker, Wright, and Suh…

Likely about 15M in hits this year. Restructure Goff and cut Nick Williams.

Draft WR, RG, CB, WR, NT, CB- sign lots of Udfa LBs.

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I don’t think this will happen now Suh or Rankins one may have before the Brockers trade an extension. We have some young players we need to grade now on roster an likely will add more maybe during or after draft. Talking DT position.

I think they will be looking to add one or two CBs an a S maybe a LB an WR. Before draft.

More you think about what the coaching staff did last couple seasons more we need to see exactly what we have before adding more high priced players.
Hand, Strong, Penisini, Williams, Cornell,Heath.Atkins
They would be DT;s along with Brockers who is vet in room an Williams with 6 years would be next Likely only keeping 4 an one swing DT/DE

I think cap we have left would be best spent on DBs an WR
These are are edge DE rushers an likely 4 make it. Not saying we shouldn’t add in draft or even roster cuts just right now maybe work on DB.s LB an WR
Bryant,
Flowers,
Okwara, J
Okwara, R
Harris
McCray

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Why do you hate magic beans?

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I’m sure it would boost morale in the locker room if they had a hooker in there, but I don’t think it’s legal, man.

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liked that humor or idea either way

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I used to hate magic beans until I discovered Magic Beano…

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J Tavaii is interesting conceptually. He’s actually a symbol of most of the stuff we disagree on.

We have no LB depth at all, we agree that Patricia was worst ever at coaching, motivating, and scheme… and yet most of us were on the “get Tavaii out of here” train… the last time we did that just for spite was Kyle Van Noy, and the time before that it was Laken Tomlinson…

Quinn immediately got rid of a former first rounder he didn’t take for a super small magic bean. Laken has been a stud starter in SF since. Then he did the same to NE with Van Noy- and it wasn’t that I had tremendous faith in either, but they clearly have proven to have been productive similar to their draft slot in new scheme/cultures!

Tavaii was such a reach, and we haven’t seen a ton from Harris or JRM, but maybe one or even 2 of the 3 could be solid starters.

——

We really should compare what Suh or Rankins could be here vs what we have in N Williams. The Williams cap savings alone would cover the year 1 one hit to either.

I think Suh and Brockers would enable Flowers/Harris and RO/JO/Cornell to nab about 10 sacks “per” at DE. If we squeeze 8 sacks total between all DTs, and 5-6 total from lbs, and 3-4 from our total secondary- that’s 33-36 for the team.

Romeo and Flowers both set a good edge, and get top 20 pressure “each!” Brockers and Suh get good interior pressure. Suh plays like a maniac and his presence in the weight room alone will make us tougher and play stronger.

JRM/D Hamilton
Collins/Tavaii
J Okwara/rookie

If Tavaii and Collins are the base LBs with JO as the Jack type rush LB-

Flowers/C Harris
Suh(Or Rankins)/Hand
Brockers/Penisini
R Okwara/Hand/A Bryant

  • that DL has a couple DTs capable of 5 sacks each. A guy in Flowers who could kick in, a guy in Hand who could kick out, a guy in Harris who was drafted into a tear down, then got a 1 year in a new system. He graded decent PFF- and had 3 sacks playing 27% of snaps last year. WE WOULD GLADLY TAKE THST UF HE CAN RUN DEFEND. If he and Flowers get 10, and our DTs penetrate, I love the rotation of Hand, Romeo, A Bryant, On the other side.

So on first down we have JRM/Hamilton as wlb, Tavaii in middle, and Collins as drop back.

On run downs we have Tavaii and Collins off ball and J Okwara or Bryant as the blitz backer or Jack. Like Kennard role…

In nickle we have JRM and Collins out there

  • I’d consider a flier on KJ Wright, a bigger deal to Eric Wilson or a cheap 2 year on anzalone

My point?

J Davis, C Jones and Ragland combined for 1400 snaps last year… 0 sacks. 0 interceptions. 4 passes defended combined and a low 50s average pff rating- Jones and Ragland in the 40s

Yes we lost depth. Yes I think Davis has some potential for sure in a new system with better scheme. I’m not even sure we had a scheme last year.

We didn’t lose anything though. Those 3 guys had 140 total tackles and no splash plays in 1400 plus snaps!!!

We will land at least 1 more lb, db, and hopefully upgrade Nick Williams to one of the DTs I mentioned.

Even Kareem Jackson, A Anzalone, and Rankins or Suh would cost south of 9-10M next year- firm up lb and safety a bit better and really solidify our DL!

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I think if we sign Damontae Kazee, Nickel Robey Coleman, and maybe a couple cheap LBers with upside (Anzalone/Keon Alexander?) I would consider free agency a major success. None of those guys should cost more then 3-4mil a year so it wouldn’t have a major impact on comp picks. Maybe even grab a guy like Josh Reynolds yet with the WR market being so soft he might sign for 1 year 2mil considering Rashad Higgins got around that. Then going into the draft you are very flexible at #7.

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They usually get the hookers when they go on the road.

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Big Natty has been on the RB and WR train all off-season.

If the staff truly does like KJ and Staley is a pretty good judge. Then we have 3 really talented backs already under contract. Staley got 1700-1800 combine yards a year out of M Sanders and B Scott- despite Sanders missing 10 starts! That was with Wentz as a mess and no WRs on the roster aside from a solid TE-

I’d take Hock over Ertz, Goff over Wentz and if we execute this draft we should be massively superior at WR, and more talented at RB…

My goal this year is staff the offense to be a top 10 offense for 3-4 years in a row…

Extend Rags asap!!!

Find a starter next to him in round 2 please.
Decker, Jackson, Rags, RG Rookie, ???- will be our OL in 21, 22, and 23 for sure. After a decent average cap hit per player across OL with 2 rookie deals!!

Goff is a value the next 4- especially after Rams ate another 2.5!

Our Rbs are signed for 2 and 3 years respectively.

At least 3 more years of Hock and Cephus.

We simply need 2 more legit WRs and I’d take them NOW! This year. Let them fight for snaps behind T Will and Perriman. If the 1 year vets hold them off, it’s probably because they are pacing for 800-900 yards years, and when one gets hurt (likely) the snaps will be there.

Chase/Waddle/Smith
RG
LB
WR
NT
DB

That is how I’d draft this year.

A WR1, a potential WLB or MLB (Moses or Surratt etc), a speed guy like Eskridge, a mountain like T Slaton, and a depth CB4 type.

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This draft and strategy let’s us see what we have in JO, Bryant, CHarris, maybe Will Harris to a lesser degree. Pensini and Cornell too.

It’s not about giving guys like Penisini a “shot” with 600-700 snaps. It’s putting talent and leadership around him on the 350-400 snaps he gets and see how he grades out. Is he a wall against the run? Does he get 2 sacks somehow?

Next year we will have 2 firsts, 1 second, 2 thirds, and 1 fourth and possibly 2-3 5ths!

LB
FS
RT
CB
WR
That’s just the first 3 rounds!!! Our entire DL will still be in tact if we sign on more solid DT for 2 years and cut N Williams.

Then add a stud LB and CB in free agency!!!

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The best part is that if Goff is awful or my plan doesn’t work, we draft top 4-5 next year! I think Rams draft around 22…

QB atop round 1 to sit the first 8 games, if Goff isn’t having a pro bowl year the rookie comes in and we trade Goff for a 2nd and 3rd…

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Is there a list of all Lions FA and where they signed and their contracts… Then one of the FAs we signed and the contracts?

Also, our cut players and where they signed just for fun.

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I don’t think they’ll be making any moves that take away their comp picks, myself.

The real million dollar question is how they feel about Goff.

If were going to draft a QB I say do it this year. This might be selfish of me, but I don’t want to sit around here and and wait an extra year because we can’t tear off the bandaid and draft a QB and develop him ASAP instead of prolonging the rebuild even longer starting a rookie in 2022.

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If you listened to Holmes press conference the other day introducing Goff you can tell how much he really loves him. IMO they are 100% bluffing when they say they might draft a QB at 7. Goff is going to get a fair shake this year and depending on what he shows is going to determine whether he is here beyond that. Them not restructuring his contract is VERY telling that they are not putting all their eggs in the Goff basket for beyond 2021. We could cut him outright in 2022 and still save 10mil in cap or trade him with no dead cap at all.

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I agree. I think we sit tight until the draft, then rummage through the FA bargain bin.

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It’s not telling to me, it’s just prudent. The plan isn’t to load up on high priced FAs for a Super Bowl run this year, so they don’t need to restructure Goff’s contract for cap space at the moment. They’re keeping that Payday Loan in reserve for emergencies. I mean, look at the mess Atlanta is in by using Matt Ryan as their ATM.

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They have pushed money from Jamie Collins, Michael Brockers, Tyrell Williams, and Romeo Okwara into future years via voidable years that is dead money no matter what. I might even be missing a couple. They could have avoided all that by restructuring Goff if they believed he was definitely the guy. They know once they restructure him they are 100% committed to him for at least through 2022.

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Kelly will post it on IG, if they do. :wink:

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Agree with all of this, except one thing. KJ usually finds his way to the injured list within his first 20 snaps of the season. I love the guy, I just don’t trust his health.

I like J-Will too. Glad he’s with us. I think he’s a great backup, possibly an okay starter. I just want some slam dunk. I love Swift too. He’s not the power back, but he can go between the tackles in spot duty (though not ideal for that). I love your approach to OL and WR in high-to-mid rounds. All in with that. I just want a RB to replace KJ, though I’d be happy if KJ could actually stay healthy, I have serious doubts.

Truthfully, I think they will go more the direction of your prediction than mine…just hoping not.
I want another J-Will!
T-Will
J-will
J-Will
Swift
Hoch
Waddel
New WR
Cephus
…the OL you mention.
Sounds like fun

Yup

Exciting to see the options we have. Completely agree. If they were all in on Goff, they’d have tried to restructure him by now. I think he’s in the ultimate “prove it” situation. I also think we are positioned to draft and groom and/or trade another QB.
Front offices seem pretty bold in Detroit. I think they’ll call other teams bluff. These guys may have drafted a QB last year and forced someone to trade up.