MichiganCardinal

I don't think it's Lions exclusive, though the Lions do have more surprise retirements than most NFL teams. Jake Plummer got into a long, drawn out dispute with the Bucs over his bonus, which the Bucs effectively won. The Patriots refused to pay Antonio Brown a signing bonus even though they had no legal right to withhold it. This year, Drew Dalman retired from the Bears and is subject to return a portion of his $6MM signing bonus. What I don't get is why Rod Wood made it a story. The reverse is always going to be more well known, because Irsay in Indy looks like a good guy billionaire for not clawing back Andrew Luck's signing bonus. (When in fact, it might be just as likely that he realized it was better to keep Luck in his good graces in case he unretired). Likewise, Benson in NOLA looks like such a nice owner when it's published that Carr was allowed to keep his money. (When in fact, it looks likely it was negotiated to avoid Carr medically retiring and creating a messy drawn out arbitration over both the signing bonus and his fully guaranteed money). In both of those cases the team wasn't very good anyway, and wasn't seriously injured by not getting the cap relief. Whereas the Lions needed (or at least wanted) the cap relief. So why would Wood make a story out of the reverse, painting Sheila to be greedy, or at least justifying what the public will perceive as greed? I don't get it. I seriously doubt the Bears will make a public comment on whether they are clawing back Dalman's money, especially if they are. Because there is no benefit.

I don't know what Rod Wood or the Lions gained from that interview. I think the Lions are generally in the right here. Signing bonuses come with conditions. It's not as if I could sign a contract with a company and receive a $5,000,000 bonus, then realize after three months I can just invest that money wisely and work as a minor league groundskeeper for the rest of my life, so I quit and pocket the bonus. The company is going to want at least a pro rated portion back, and I'm guessing that's detailed directly in the contract they signed. Of course it's nuanced. Calvin and Barry you could have (and should have) worked with them on some PR agreements to keep them in the fold in exchange for them keeping their money. OTOH, Ragnow ostensibly left you high and dry in June. Anzalone comes across as a lot of sour grapes about not getting the money he wanted last season. Yes, in my hypothetical above I'm typing at a computer for a company. You are putting your life on the line for a company. No doubt about it, they're not the same and you deserve immense respect. But at the end of the day, yep, you said it, "business is business." The contract says what the contract says. If you don't like it, negotiate the ability to retire whenever you want and keep your signing bonus. I bet you none of the 32 teams will agree to that, even if some of them have historically not sought repayment. But back to my first point, why is this a story? Ragnow seemed perfectly happy fishing and hunting off into the sunset. He wasn't making public statements about the Lions wronging him. There was no Lions reputation to defend. I don't know why Rod Wood needs to make a public comment. "Our precedent goes all the way back to Barry Sanders. And if Barry Sanders paid back money... And I think the reality is, they're not paying back their money, they're returning our money. [Be]cause they were paid in advance for services that they hadn't completed." Seriously, it's not even making a one-day story into a two-day story, it's making a zero-day story into a one-day story. He could have easily declined to comment on Ragnow's contract and wished him well in retirement.

I love that comment honestly. Like “hell no I’m not calling him right now that’d be bull**** politicking, but when the time is right I’ll give him a call.” That’s a way better way to handle beef than crying to the media, even though it gives us as fans a glimpse behind the curtain.

If it were this easy, the Wings could have Brady Tkachuk or Andrei Svechnikov instead of Filip Zadina... Or Lafreniere instead of Raymond, if you would make that trade in 2020. I'm as tired of making excuses for Yzerman as the next guy, but it's not like effectively tanking from 2019 to 2023 did us any favors. The NHL isn't designed for bad teams to get good again without a combination of luck and skill. Say what you will on the skill front, but there's been absolutely no luck.

If Mauigoa is there, you turn in the card before they're back from commercial and piss off Goodell again. It's looking like he'll be the first or second tackle off the board though. But you never know, it just takes two or three teams to project him as a guard and he slips a little bit. That said, I'm starting to think the Lions won't leave without drafting one of Monroe Freeling or Max Iheanachor. Both of them are very strong candidates to be solid future OTs. Freeling has played more LT and Iheanachor has played more RT. Both are athletic freaks, with the two highest RAS scores for offensive linemen this cycle. Freeling was 2nd all time at the position and Iheanachor was 23rd. Both are also a little flawed and need coaching (obviously, or they'd be sure-fire top ten picks). Freeling is a bit better in space, on runs to the outside and screen passes, which makes sense given his athletic profile. He's also a little better handling speed rushers on the outside (e.g., Micah Parsons?). But he lacks power at the point of attack (i.e., goal line situations). Iheanachor OTOH is a nasty run blocker, but still very raw in pass protection. He started in JUCO and has only played football for five years, and has struggled against elite speed rushers on the outside. But his rapid improvement at ASU has caught the eye of scouts and it's not crazy to think that with his trajectory his ceiling is the highest of any OT prospect in this draft. The tea leaves have them both there at #17, but neither there at #50. Ideally you could trade with a team like the Texans, drop from #17 to #28, pick up #69, and take one of them. It takes two to tango though and Holmes has shown a willingness to take his guy, even if it's a little early. Alternatively you take Faulk at #17, wait until one of them goes (probably Freeling), then try to move up in the 2nd round by dangling next year's 3rd. Faulk & Iheanachor would be a really good two-day haul and probably worth sacrificing a pick in 2027 for.

I would expect some growing pains this year, but growing pains for Sewell probably means like allowing a single sack and his PFF rating goes from 95.2 to 92.

After ten years I don’t think it’s crazy to think you’d at least get a “good bye, good luck” If I worked at a place for ten years and then went my separate way, I’d hope my boss would at least shake my hand on the way out the door.

Plus he no longer had a role here, but that probably doesn't sound as good to the Chicago media.

That article is a great peak behind the curtain, but it does come across as at least a little bit of sour grapes on Decker's part IMO. On January 5, he does two exit interviews with Campbell and Holmes. He says he's going to consider retirement, they say that's totally fine, no problem, we want you back. Don't screw us like Ragnow did though, please let us know by March 10. Decker says no problem, he will let them know, and--oh by the way--he's not interested in a pay cut. On February 22, he says he wants to come back. Campbell says great, he's meeting with Holmes in two days. Holmes doesn't respond. The next day--so before Campbell and Holmes meet--Decker goes public and says he's coming back. Then on February 26, after Holmes and Campbell have met, Decker's agent informs him that the team wants him to take a pay cut. He immediately says no, doesn't even attempt to negotiate. Then Decker says that the possibility of a pay cut wasn't broached in the exit interview, contradicting himself from when he said that it was clear in the exit interview that he wouldn't take a pay cut. Gotta be honest, that all seems reasonable on the team's part. For one, they probably hadn't done a comprehensive analysis of the 2026 roster on January 5 that could tell them "we want you back only if you take a pay cut." Even if they had, they're not going to negotiate a pay cut with the player in an exit interview; that's the agent's job. For another thing, even if Decker did make it clear in the exit interview he wasn't going to take a pay cut, it doesn't mean the Lions in any way accepted those conditions when they said they want him back. They did want him back, they weren't lying in the exit interview. But he forced their hand by basically giving them an ultimatum of either pay me $18MM (the 25th most amount of money to an OT in the league), or I'm not coming back. They made the right choice. And I think that's obvious by nature of the deals that have been signed by top end OTs in free agency. The only thing I would criticize the Lions for is the breakdown in communication. Decker said he hasn't talked to Campbell or Holmes since his release and talked to Fraley only after Decker reached out to Fraley. But that Ben Johnson reached out to him to just check in as a friend. I know they're busy guys, but they could have said something. Sheila/Rod Wood/Spielman too. You can't deny that Decker has done a ton for the org and nobody is interested in another messy divorce like Calvin's (not that Decker is comparable to the kind of player Calvin was). At the very least you could thank him for his years with the Lions and say you hope to welcome him into the Pride of the Lions when he eventaully hangs up his cleats. TLDR: Decker probably has some legit beef about communication, but I don't think the Lions did anything categorically wrong. It's a tough business and they made a business decision.

Ding ding ding! 🙂

If you’re not already watching The Pitt, I can’t recommend it enough. it might overtake Breaking Bad as #2 on my all time list.

Faulk is a unique prospect. It's rare to have a defensive end who is so good at setting the edge and overpowering linemen at the point of attack, while not having the flashy stats to show for it in the pass game. If Bain fell, they could take him. He's got a lot of qualities they like. High motor, physical, good character. He's good against the run, but not like Faulk. He would probably take longer to adapt to the Lions system than Faulk. Howell would surprise me. He's an athletic freak, but a natural edge whose weakness is in the run game. Not really their MO at all and I don't see them trying to force him to be something he's not in the Lions system.

I think those are legitimate concerns about Faulk. To the extent you want a sure-fire pass rusher across from Hutch, he's probably not your guy. Though, to be fair, Faulk's utilization at Auburn makes for a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. They played a 3-4 defensive front, and Faulk was lined up in a 2-gap, asked to effectively act as a space-eating DT, rather than a more traditional edge. It's understandable why they did it, because it's a role he excelled in. If you line him up outside the tackle, does he generate better stats? Probably. But how much better? Is he a Calais Campbell/Arik Armstead type or just a more flashy Josh Paschal? More to the point though, I think he's exactly what the Lions love out of that DE/EDGE position, for better or worse. They aspire to have the best run defense in the league, and I do think a front of Hutchinson-Williams-McNeill-Faulk gives them that by 2027, if not sooner. They are okay with having a just-okay pass rush if it means teams are forced to pass because they just can't get anywhere on the ground. Whether that's a sound strategy is probably a discussion for another day, but it's how the team was built and it's where we are today.

First Round Shortlist 1. Francis Mauigoa, OT, Miami 2. Keldric Faulk, EDGE, Auburn 3. Reuben Bain Jr., EDGE, Miami 4. Monroe Freeling, OT, Georgia 5. Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU 6. Spencer Fano, OT, Utah Second Round Shortlist 1. Max Iheanschor, OT, Arizona State 2. Jalon Kilgore, DB, South Carolina 3. CJ Allen, LB, Georgia 4. Akheem Mesidore, EDGE, Miami 5. Dani Dennis-Sutton, EDGE, Penn State 6. Deonte Lawson, LB, Alabama

The real fun could have come had a zealous MSP or DPD supervisor decided it was enough to arrest Metcalf on site.