I always hate the logic that the Lions are “not allowed” to acquire the kind of players that better teams are “allowed” to acquire. Some of the same people want to pass on top end talent in the draft and constantly trade down. Basically, in the end they want a team full of mediocre players to somehow turn in an above mediocre result on the field. And then and only then can you go out and get something above mediocre players. WTF?
I think your logic is flawed. I’m pretty sure zero Lions fans want a team full of mediocre players. Hell, we’ve had many superstars on the roster, even in recent years. It’s getting superstars to come to Detroit on team friendly deals, which is rare for elite players in free agency. Therefore a rebuilding team should wait to target such players. Also, trading down doesn’t guarantee you sacrifice an elite player for a few average players. For example, in this year’s draft, can you guarantee Aiden Hutchinson is the only future elite player in the first round? No, many guys taken after him will probably be more valuable im the long run. Trading down allows you to pick up more lottery tickets, and hopefully fill more holes. This year’s draft is especially deep in talent. Sometimes trading down is appropriate, sometimes trading up is as well. It’s a fluid situation, but neither move guarantees more or less elite talent.
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We agree more than anything. Acquire talent at a team friendly rate and term. Avoid high risk, long term signings, unless you know you’re getting an uber talented, high character guy.
About the free agent thing, if down the road we end up in the position of having more good veterans then we can afford to keep then so be it. I have no problem with being aggressive in FA. Hopefully we will spend wisely but we’re always going to have to pay top dollar to lure in the high end guys.
I think the timing is where I would disgree with. You don’t wait until your a contender to sign FA’s. Most contenders aren’t active in FA. Most contenders don’t have the cap space to make splashes in FA and typically try to re-sign their own guys and play the comp pick game.
The time to make splashes in FA are now for a team like the Lions. We completed step 1 of our rebuild, and now is the time to spend money. In two years I would expect them to not be active in FA and focus on re-signing their own and drafting well to stay competitive.
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There is nothing flawed about my logic. We just disagree. And you are doing it in a way that has been done many times before on this board, but presenting it like its a new idea. There is nothing new and innovative about what you are saying. We all want “team friendly” deals. We all want guys on “prove it” deals. We all want short term commitments to players rather than being anchored by an albatross contract for years to come. This is not new and it is not different than what has been said a million times on the board. The only difference is what happens when you can’t field a good enough team with just team friendly and prove it deals? Some of us are willing to go an extra step to acquire better talent, while some are not.
Read that again and tell me what you think that sounds like?
My comment about trading down was that it is a train of logic that has been used here many times before, and it falls right in line with the logic you are using for other types of player acquisition. “If we were only one player away” is a statement made a ton of times. Just go get good football players. Stop pretending that our team is not allowed to get certain guys while we are also expected to compete against the teams that have those guys.
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Sounds roughly right 1811. 
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Welcome aboard.
If Willis played for Michigan he would be the #2 pick
I reread it and still stand by it. So what you’re telling me is you can’t rebuild through the draft? Well the Rams just did it. Their foundation was laid primarily through the draft and team friendly FA deals. When they had all the pieces in place, what did they do? They spent money and draft capital to finish their product (Stafford, Von Miller, etc). You see this in hockey a lot too. Look at the TB Lightning. Drafted extremely well for several years, focused on player development, then made a FA splash here and there when the time came to contend.
It’s called being patient and trusting the process. It’s impatient fans that beat the drum to sign these high commodity, expensive, and often times diva players. Then the organization does it a year too early and bam… right back to square 1
Welcome to the best Lions board in existence.
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Way to endear yourself to the new group.
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I don’t know about that. In 2015 the Rams were a 7-9 team and traded away two first round picks to move up to #1 and draft Goff. They haven’t had a first round pick since.
Sure they drafted Donald, and then signed him to a mega contract.
Traded two first round picks for Ramsey, then gave him a record breaking contract.
If anything, they’ve shown that first round picks are overrated.
And you can get creative with the cap and have several superstars on your roster.
And win a Super Bowl with 26% of your salary cap going to dead money.
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Lol patience , trust the process ? Damn I think I’ve heard that with every hire. Just what’s your definition of patience ? Is 50 years being patient enough. Lol
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I’ll second that.
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I never even remotely said that.
The Rams started swinging for players as soon as McVay took over. They didn’t wait out the process. They immediately signed Robert Woods to a 5 year deal via free agency and traded their 2nd round pick for Sammy Watkins. That was coming off of a 4-12 season. They didn’t sit back and say “oh we need to wait until we build for a few years before we make moves like that.” They also signed Andrew Whitworth, who was 36 years old at the time. They didn’t say “well we are building over time so we should avoid this older guy.” Whitworth’s deal with the Rams put him just outside of the top 10 in terms of pay per year for an offensive lineman.
The following season they brought in Suh, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Dante Fowler and spent a 1st round pick to acquire Brandin Cooks. The year after that they spent two 1st round picks to acquire Jalen Ramsey. The Rams are not a team that built up thru the draft and then made some recent moves to put them over the top. The Rams are a team that was making moves the minute McVay got there. We would actually be showing more patience than the Rams if we didn’t make big moves until THIS season, because at least we gave it a year first. They didn’t.
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If Willis played for any of the power five teams he, in all likelihood, would be a #2 or top five pick.
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If Willis played for a Power 5 team, he would get beat out and transfer to a non-Power 5 school.
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