I have already posted a list of key decisions with the top two being Slay and Golladay. For the sake of argument lets say the Lions lock down both Slay and Golladay and decide to save $ and not re-sign Glasgow and A. Robinson. We need to also say that Harrison decides to come back for one more season.
The Lions will have free agency $ available. Yes, there are other decisions that are important. BUT…what if the Lions decide to roughly stay pat with the OL (replacing Glasgow internally) and at LBer and say the Lions are looking closely at draft a CB in round 1 giving them Slay, Coleman, Okudah, Amani Oruwariye, Agnew and a 6th CB.
So…what if the Lions did this in free agency:
-
Signed DT Chris Jones. Quinn already spent big $ on Mike Daniels and Jones seems to play a similar role.
-
Added depth behind Harrison with DT Danny Shelton or maybe Vernon Butler or Beau Allen. We need a true run stuffer behind Harrison and in case Harrison either does retire or quits in 2020.
Would that be enough to get this defense turned around? That would leave the LBers as Davis, Tavai, Chrisrtian Jones and Kennard. To me that isn’t good enough. So I add:
- Dante Fowler at weakside LBer…like he was used in LA with the Rams.
Fowler is 26 in August. To me that fixes the defense. Expensive? Yes. Affordable? Yes…if we go cheap in other areas like safety, TE, and RB. And interior OL.
Flowers, Chris Jones, Damon Harrison (if he comes back), Shelton (or other run stuffer), Okwara, D. Hand, A. Bryant and Austin Bryant works for me. Add a 9th DL guy if necessary.
From there at LBer we maybe could have Fowler, Davis, Tavai, Kennard, Christian Jones and whoever else we want to keep.
In the secondary we might have Slay, Okudah, Coleman, Amani Oruwariye, Agnew and a 6th CB? At safety Will Harris, Tracy Walker, hopefully Tavon Wilson back (cheap deal) CJ Moore and ?
In the draft we would have the rest of that draft still to flush out the roster.
Yea, if we lose Graham Glasgow and Robinson but lock down DT Chris Jones (replacing Mike Daniels), Shelton (better DT run stuffing deopth) and then add Fowler (weakside starter) that would be massive upgrades and if Harrison stays…we have elite depth.
Those are my three free agent horses at this point. And losing Graham would feel like nothing to me if we can get this defense fixed.