Detroit Lions 2024 Offseason Thread

[Motown Bombers]

I would be shocked if Burns isn't franchised and I bet Allen will. Hunter is the only one who will make it to free agency. Besides, the Lions have a Crosby and it's Aidan Hutchinson. 

Snead is also being franchised and will require picks and a large salary commitment. I bet Johnson will be franchised and I caution throwing a lot of money at a corner who was average until his contract year. Fuller is likely the only one to actually make it to free agency. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

2 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

I would be shocked if Burns isn't franchised and I bet Allen will. Hunter is the only one who will make it to free agency. Besides, the Lions have a Crosby and it's Aidan Hutchinson. 

Snead is also being franchised and will require picks and a large salary commitment. I bet Johnson will be franchised and I caution throwing a lot of money at a corner who was average until his contract year. Fuller is likely the only one to actually make it to free agency. 

I think this is all true and even if one of Allen, Burns, Johnson, Snead wasn't franchised, I don't think this front offices approach is to go break the bank on signing high-dollar free agents to long term deals. I think this years free agent class we bring in will look similar to what we brought in last offseason. That's not a bad thing either. I would just caution anyone not to get their hopes up that we're going to be in on one of the top defensive free agents.

I'm going to say this now in-regards to the draft too. Don't be surprised if they draft a guy at a position you the fan weren't expecting them to take. We're all screaming for a CB or DE/Edge and they could just as easily go out and take a Guard or WR if that's whose BPA on their board.

[Motown Bombers]

I will say the Lions are in great position because they are Super Bowl contenders with a great culture. They don't need to go above and beyond other teams offers anymore. If your Hunter and the money is the same, do you play for a mediocre team with a coach who is on the hot seat, or a Super Bowl contender with a great coach and an opportunity to blow up Cousins twice a year? 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Of all the "big name" free agents Hunter is the one guy I think this team could and would pursue. My reasoning for that is because he isn't just a pass rush specialist type of DE. He also plays well against the run and is a 3-down lineman who offers some versatility, being able to slide along the defensive front. This coaching staff values 3-down lineman and values being able to play along the defensive front versus a guy who is a pure pass rush specialist and that's all they do. The other thing with Hunter is I don't think he will be commanding a 4-5-6 year contract with a team. At 29 years old, it seems more likely he will get a 1-2-3 year deal somewhere and I could see that having more appeal to this front office, versus having to sign a guy like Brian Burns who will likely want a 5-6 year deal. They won't have to commit a large percentage of their cap to Hunter as they would a Burns. So I could see Hunter being the one top-tier free agent they sign.

[Sports_Freak]

30 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

If by Maxx Crosby you mean a multi-tooled defensive lineman, acquired in the draft, that can play multiple positions along the defensive front and isn't solely a pass rush specialist, sure. If by shutdown corner you mean signing 33 year old Stephon Gilmore to a one year deal or signing one of Chidobe Awuzie, Kenny Moore or Adoree Jackson to a team-friendly, cap-friendly 2-3 year deal, sure.

If by Maxx Crosby you actually mean Maxx Crosby or signing the likes of Brian Burns, Danielle Hunter, or Josh Allen, I don't think that's happening. If by shutdown corner you mean acquiring one of the premium players on the market like L'Jarius Sneed, Jaylon Johnson, or Kendall Fuller, that doesn't seem to be their plan either. They'd rather bring in two B-/B/B+ good free agents that they can get on a team-friendly, short term deal, than one A+ great free agent that they have to pay big money to on a long term contract.

I hope to eat a whole bucket of my words when they sign one of the top free agents on the market, but I just don't think that's what Holmes' plan is.

I want the Crosby that had 14.5 sacks in 2023.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Just now, Sports_Freak said:

I want the Crosby that had 14.5 sacks in 2023.

Sorry, I couldn't resist the Sopranos reference. Acquiring Maxx Crosby, even if he were on the market, would be a trade price I don't think this front office would pay. Just as I don't think they'd pay the price to sign a Brian Burns or Josh Allen were they available. 

[Motown Bombers]

I think Hunter will demand a long term contract. He held out in Minnesota because the contract he signed wasn't big enough and he wanted a redo. 

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Sorry, I couldn't resist the Sopranos reference. Acquiring Maxx Crosby, even if he were on the market, would be a trade price I don't think this front office would pay. Just as I don't think they'd pay the price to sign a Brian Burns or Josh Allen were they available. 

Oh, I agree. I want Holmes to find the next Maxx Crosby in the draft. Its really the only way to go, we all know the price would be too high to trade for him.

[MichiganCardinal]

20 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

 

I’ve gotten these surveys before. Never knew they went to something like this.

I’ve always rated them highly but leave comments that I want mobile vendors with hot dogs so I don’t have to stand in a 15 minute line for a dog. But do they listen?? Noooooo.

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RatkoVarda]

still possible to get real value from Hooker and Sorsdal; Martin and Green did not show much of anything though

[Mr.TaterSalad]

9 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said:

still possible to get real value from Hooker and Sorsdal; Martin and Green did not show much of anything though

Iffy never showed a thing in first two seasons and yet broke out in year three. This coaching staff seems to have a knack for developing players.

[Shinzaki]

3 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Sorry, I couldn't resist the Sopranos reference. Acquiring Maxx Crosby, even if he were on the market, would be a trade price I don't think this front office would pay. Just as I don't think they'd pay the price to sign a Brian Burns or Josh Allen were they available. 

Angie Dickenson is 92...so...gross. 😀

[Motown Bombers]

2 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Iffy never showed a thing in first two seasons and yet broke out in year three. This coaching staff seems to have a knack for developing players.

You can add McNeil and Barnes who made big strides in year 3 as well. 

[MichiganCardinal]

Martin was a big kid with little athleticism from a small school taken around pick #100. I don’t think he was expected to be a big day one contributor.

[Jason_R]

2 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I’ve gotten these surveys before. Never knew they went to something like this.

I’ve always rated them highly but leave comments that I want mobile vendors with hot dogs so I don’t have to stand in a 15 minute line for a dog. But do they listen?? Noooooo.

Every seat needs a pneumatic tube that can deliver a hot dog directly. 

[Shinzaki]

54 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Martin was a big kid with little athleticism from a small school taken around pick #100. I don’t think he was expected to be a big day one contributor.

Looking at his youtube hilights....he did a really good job occupying blockers and tracking the ball on running plays.  He played way too upright in college...as tall as he is, they will eat him up trying that in the nfl

[Motown Bombers]

Not going to lie, I always expected Martin to be the eater and not the eaten. 

[MichiganCardinal]

37 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

Every seat needs a pneumatic tube that can deliver a hot dog directly. 

See, this is the kind of leadership I want with my football organization.

[1984Echoes]

4 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Oh, I agree. I want Holmes to find the next Maxx Crosby in the draft. Its really the only way to go, we all know the price would be too high to trade for him.

I think I spotted a Maxx Crosby in this year's draft...

we'll see if he can find his way to the Lions...

[1984Echoes]

2 hours ago, RatkoVarda said:

still possible to get real value from Hooker and Sorsdal; Martin and Green did not show much of anything though

Martin was in deep-dive training this past season.

The team has HUGE belief in him (from their limited comments I've seen...)

Raw as hell so they were in intense fundamentals/ technique training the whole year.

The team believes his size/ power/ athleticism is off the charts... but with badly raw technique from his lower division school...

I'll guess we'll find out this coming year (is my guess) what the team actually sees in him...

And whether all that fundamentals training will have some kind of affect...

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Brodric Martin had one of the worst RAS scores of all time among DTs. Does that mean a whole lot? Maybe, maybe not. They're a lot smarter than me, so I hope they see something far more than the average fan does because his numbers aren't that good.

[Motown Bombers]

That's actually twice as good as Snacks Harrison's score. RAS really doesn't mean much when you are talking about big nose tackles. 

[RandyMarsh]

I think they drafted Martin to be that guy to stuff the run since we couldn't do that last year but it turns out we did a 180 this year and were great against it so there wasn't much need for him so might as well just red shirt him.