I don’t.
I see, the need for solid : S, LB’s plural , DE , DT , CB , WR’s , A RB , A QB , A O-line guy , possibly 12 playmakers.
The strength will be new leadership at the top. The only thing we can say for sure. Yes, I’m making a leap saying they’ll be better than what was fired. If they’re not, heaven help us.
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yes , if they are not? it’s going to be a rough time here.
The team will have it’s strengths and weaknesses, all teams do. There is nothing that suggests they’ll be strong at anything as a team in comparison to others, though. Like, if you think of teams with a strong air attack or teams with a strong ground game, we will not likely be either. Likewise, among teams that shut down others in the air or on the ground, we again will not be in consideration.
I don’t think there should be any expectations that we’re going to improve much this off season. COVID and the projected salary are just not going to allow it. There’s going to be a lot of teams in this boat.
I hope this off season’s efforts are to keep our Offense from falling into the abyss with the Defense.
Then use 2021 to allow the new coaching staff to evaluate our Defense under a different scheme and hope that some of those players are salvageable.
2022 will have a better salary cap situation and we can then do the hard push on the Defense.
I think they’ll be better than they are this year, but also consider strength of schedule is gonna be a bitch, next year. Maybe 5-8 wins?
D should be better on strategy and philosophy alone. If Matt/Ken/DeAndre stay healthy, that should look better as well.
defense depend on both who we get and who is running the thing , who is what I always had a major issue with. We got to stop f-@king around and get a DC that actually knows how to properly run a defense…for once.
not super worried about the offense-outside WR’s and O-line /play calling.
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For ALL those cryin because of Next Year’s schedule…Cheer up Buttercup…You have no idea the condition of the opposing teams WHEN the Lions face them…Lions can’t be much worse than 2020, so there is a sense of Excitement out on the Plain, with the addition of a New GM and Coach…
Unless, you grew up in the Age of Milt Plum, etc, you cannot relate…At least, back then had the Fearsome Foursome and a good Defense year-in year-out. But, even then, you had to play the Hated Lombardi Packers every year, when they were at their Greatest !!. For the Want of a decent QB, the Lions would have given the Packers a run for their money EVERY YEAR !! - GOALPOST
HAPPY NEW YEAR DENMATES FROM LA
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Depending on the approach of the new GM the 2021 season could be much worse than 2020.
If we watch Stafford walk out of the doors of Ford Field, and then fail to properly address our WR corps, the downfall of our offense could make this team pretty much unwatchable.
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If they do what needs to be done next year and blow it, take every cap hit you can absorb. Then they are going to be awful.
I think TE could be a big time strength if Bryant can get and stay healthy. James is overpaid but he’s solid in that inline role. Hock is top 3-4 in the league and Bryant has everything you’d want in a pass catching specialist move TE.
OL can be a strength as well if we can get everyone healthy and keep Vaitai on the bench.
I still have hopes that we can see a big leap forward at CB but I admit that’s not grounded in much that we’ve observed at the professional level to date.
Only if we draft Pitts at 7 (or wherever we end up)… I mean, Hockenson became a top 5 TE by year two… Imagine if we have TWO top 5 TEs… We could save money by not paying top dollar for WRs, TEs are cheaper and they block better. Sounds like a great plan!! 
In all seriousness… I think James will almost certainly get cut in the off season. There are cheaper options to fill his small role.
About JJ James, his cap next year is about $6.43 mil but if you cut him then his dead money is about $4.3 mil that you cannot spend on anyone else. Which leaves you about $2.1 mil in cap savings, so I guess the question is, who are you going to get for $2.1 mil that will be better than James? I don’t know how good he is at runblocking, but i he’s okay there, then maybe I keep him for another year even if he is overpaid. It ain’t like the Lions have a boatload of draft picks.
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They can designate him a post June 1st cut and save 5 million in 2021, they’d have 1.4 million per year in dead money through 2023
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Thanks. Obviously there is a lot I do not know about cap space, dead money, and so on. I do think the Lions will be looking to offload some contracts this coming off-season for guys that aren’t worth the money they’re being paid. I suppose the question will come down to priorities:
Who really has to go,
Who should go but is too expensive to do so this year, and
Who should we bring into camp to see if they can improve their game under the new regime.
In James’ case, maybe it depends on just how good he is at runblocking, would he be any better or any worse under a different OC, and who can the Lions sign to replace him and at what cost. With only 5 picks, I can’t see using one on a TE in 2021, but that’s just me.
Thanks again for the assist.
I think you were originally on to something. Ultimately, his cap savings + the cost of his replacement makes him one of the last players to move on from. The only way it makes sense is if they end up really, really up against the cap and every million counts. But, there’s a lot of low-hanging fruit that will produce cap savings when cut. James not so much.
It’s possible but I think provided we get a replacement level Inline TE I still really like the room.
I might be a bit biased as I watched Bryant play a lot in college and he’s Evan Engram like. Not quite the same juice but better hands/concentration.
Not sure about this year, but James’s blocking was atrocious last year according to pff…
His blocking wasn’t good either. His Pro Football Focus run blocking score of 54.6 was lower than a player simply standing playing to a stalemate on every snap, a grade that reflects his ineffectiveness on game tape.
I also like Bryant as a move TE, he can catch and runs good routes… definitely worthy of a roster spot and could develop into a nice #2 TE.
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As long as you’re not asking him to move bodies in the run game he can really help. He does seem brittle though.