Let’s take a look at the Lions starters if healthy.
CBs Slay, Melvin, Coleman
Nose-Snacks
DEs- Flowers and Hand
LBs- Kennard, Jones, Davis, Tavai
Safeties- Walker and Tavon
Slay probably has 1 foot out the door already and the front office will help him pack.
Melvin one year deal hasn’t performed so he’s probably out either for performance or he just doesn’t want to be here.
Coleman will be here no matter what.
Snacks is 31 years old. It’s not time to move on but it’s insane to have your defense be dependent on a player his age.
Daniels-foot blew up again today he’s gone
Hand-Look I love the kid but he’s played in the same amount of games as Kerryon at this point in their careers. Not everyone is built to play in the NFL.
Kennard-will be here
Tavai- will be here
Davis- won’t be a starter if he’s on the team
Jones-probably is here but he shouldn’t be a starter on a good defense
Walker- is already the 2nd best player on the defense.
Wilson- is a free agent
This defense is looking at a rebuild no matter what.
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Kerryon also has an extra year in the league on him. That would have been like dumping Stafford after his first year because of injuries. At least wait till next year until you start going with that narrative.
An extra year in what league?
The SEC?
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My bad, was thinking johnson was drafted in 17, not 18. But regardless I’d still give Hand another year before giving up on him. Johnson was an injury risk coming out on f college so most people just kind of expected it
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I’m not saying give up on him. I’m simply saying it’s not wise to count on him as a starter.
I’m assuming that we jettison Slay for a 2 in the off-season.
I think for next year you can rely on the following as starters:
Coleman (even if he’s the “twelfth starter” he will be on the football most of the time)
Snacks
Flowers
Hand
Tavai
Davis
Harris
Walker
We are woefully thin at CB if we move Slay and we need on more pass rusher, a LBer with some coverage ability and depth on the interior DL and safety.
Then we need the rest of those guys to play up to their potential.
We shouldn’t be this terrible on defense personnel wise (IMO)
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On offense we still need some help on the OL, a 1B starter at RB, and MJ’s is understudy on the outside and a developmental QB. A real one.
Could be accomplished with a banner offseason but it’s unlikely that we can fill all those gaps
I would love it if we drafted all defense early.
We don’t have the draft capital to replace all the holes we currently have. The likelihood of finding someone better through free agency is pretty slim as well. Just have to hope he heals up for the time being
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The players I see gone are.
DL - Robinson, Daniels, and I’m not sold that Snacks stays. I think a total rebuild starts DT is a strong possibility. Also if all were ever going to do is rush 3-4 DL. Maybe this is the year we switch to a 3-4.
LBer - I think that JRM will
likely be upgraded and the Lions could look for more LBers if we go 3-4.
CB - I suspect that Slay will be trade bait this offseason and that the CB unit could also be looking at an overhaul.
Safety - yeah we have youth but we play like it to. We need better safety play. With Diggs gone I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lions are buyers in the safety market.
If they hadn’t extended Snacks I’d think he was gone but no one is trading for a non pass rushing Nose that’s 32 with a big contract
Who said anything about a trade. He’s an easy player to cut if he can’t live up to the contract.
I’m not eating 5 million of dead money to cut Snacks AND having to pay his replacement
You don’t have to, the team will eat it for you
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You eat it regardless anytime you go to a game/watch a game(unless you pirate). No, you aren’t handing the players a check on game day but through us watching, or going to the games we are essentially allowing them to continue doing what they do. Having 5 million in dead cap space is us just paying them to be possibly less competitive. Unless they can find a cheaper replacement. In which case it just decreases the amount we can spend on our many other holes.
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