Millen was so unprepared for the draft someone yelled “pick Brian Calhoun” from the back of the room because they couldn’t agree on the selection when they were on the clock.
Quinn drafted Teez Tabor and Jahlani Tavai in the 2nd round. Didn’t treat Calvin right. Fired a coach who had three consecutive winning season for a coach who went 13-29-1 with the team he inherited.
The best player Millen left us was Calvin. The best player Quinn left us (if you don’t include Stafford who asked to be traded to a contender) is TJ Hockenson (arguably, but the other choices don’t lessen my point).
I have been thinking about this since last night. The easy answer is Millen. However, Quinn did an immense amount of damage in four years. By the time he left, Stafford politely asked for a trade. The only difference is that Sheila is quicker to fire than her father.
Oh that is true too. Diggs and Slay come immediately to mind, but Glover Quin and others too.
Quinn drafted rather horrible, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Millen IMO. At least he did OKAY on some first rounders. But now even picks like Galloday have some shine knocked off them.
In the end, they both left the franchise in shambles.
That’s the key thing, and the biggest mistake Quinn made. I don’t mean to imply Quinn was a good GM–he was a terrible GM, and the roster reflects that. But he wasn’t necessarily a full-rebuild-needed-god-let’s-fumigate-this-place GM, as Millen definitely was, prior to bringing in Matt Patricia.
Patricia changed everything. I doubt Quinn ships out our best defensive players and team leaders, getting nothing in return, if Patricia wasn’t demanding it. I doubt Quinn continually picks up washed up former Patriots for every single roster vacancy, if he didn’t know that those were the only guys who would tolerate his head coach. The total dismantling of the roster, replacing anybody with talent with shittier players who wouldn’t talk back to the HC, was a process that played out over every year Patricia was here, and is the biggest reason why the roster looked the way it did after four years.
Millen, on the other hand, was just a moron with no plan and no clue, who had no business making any decision about anything, ever. I don’t think there’s really a comparison.
It’s gotta be Millen because it was total ineptitude. He did his best, it was just atrocious.
Quinn might have been able to do better. He just first had to get his guy here then together they were completely focused on showing they could do it better than the Patriots did. They couldn’t.
In terms of ability Millen was far worse, but he did not create a toxic environment. Quinn destroyed a decent team AND created a highly toxic environment. They were both complete failures but Quinn was not just bad at free agency, draft and coach hires. He was arrogant and toxic and destructive well beyond roster and coaching. Hopefully Sheila got it right and we will never have to suffer through anything like either of them again.
Millen was lost and ill-equipped, but he wasn’t a maggot.
Quinn had zero experience outside of his Patriot bubble but was still more experienced than Millen. Quinn, though, is a maggot and the worst kind of smaht guy.
Definitely Millen. Quinn wasn’t that bad at acquiring talent. His downfall was hiring Patricia. He found guys like Glasgow, Golladay, Walker, Amani, Penisini, Jackson, Agnew, Hand, Crosby, Bryant, Cephus and Julian Okwara in the 3rd round or later. He hit on Decker, Ragnow, Swift, Hockenson, in the top two rounds, and the jury is still out on Okudah. He signed Marvin Jones, and TJ Lang as free agents and trade from Damon Harrison for peanuts.
He obviously had a lot of missteps along the way, but it was nowhere near Millen. Millen couldn’t do anything right. If Quinn would have made a better higher at head coach, who knows where we would be right now. Patricia is going down as the worst Lions coach ever.
No - And I certainly am not saying Millen did not have his problems beyond talent evaluation and preparedness. I just feel that Quinn and MP were far worse in that respect. I think probably every player on the 53 man roster despised them both and hated playing for them. That takes a really high level of deuch baggery.
I think the vast majority of the players had issues with Patricia. I don’t recall any of them flaring up with Quinn. On the other hand, it was more than obvious that Moore and Morton had problems with Millen. Millen questioned Morton’s sexual orientation. I don’t think you can find anything remotely close with Quinn and a player.
I don’t forget, but what got me thinking about it was this realization:
Even though Matt Millen was, as you put it, the worst GM in the history of the NFL, in the end, Quinn was just about as bad. Its closer than one might think.
13-29-1 his last three years.
13 wins in three years? That win percentage is damn near Millen. Thank God for his first year when he went 9-7 with Caldwell. Then factor in how bare the cupboard was for Holmes and Speilman that DC needed a six year deal.
