| 04 March 2010
I got some bad news in regard to the Detroit Lions blogosphere earlier this week. The Church of Schwartz is disbanding. Turns out the reason was due to the site being hacked numerous times, and a overly busy real life for Rev. Speilman.
But the Rev's own creation, the Lions Congregation roundtable, will live on. DetFan79 has stepped up, and will host the weekly Q & A at Roar of the Lions. The congregation lives, and will continue to hit the tubes of the internets every Friday!
With the soon to open NFL free agency period in mind, here's the first set of questions from Roar of the Lions, and my answers.
1. Is there a restricted free agent you would be willing to give up draft picks for? Who and how much?
Give up a draft pick? Any draft pick? No. Nope. Nada. Not gonna happen.
For example, wouldn't...say...the Eagle's Jason Avant be a nice compliment to Calvin Johnson at wide receiver? His stats have increased every season of his career. Avant would be an excellent number 3 receiver. But what's he going to cost? A 2nd round pick! No NFL team is goiug to offer a 2nd round pick for Jason Avant...especially with Matt Millen back in the booth.
How about a running back? Let's go with the Titans' Lendale White, who has a 1000 yard season under his belt, but was made irrelevant with the rise of Chris Johnson to elite status. It's going to take a 2nd round pick to sign him. As the Lions are picking 2nd in the 2nd round, 34th overall, in position to nab a talented player who drops out of the 1st round, it's too damn high a pick to give up...even for a productive running back like White.
The Lions aren't in a position to be giving up any high draft picks in order to pick up a free agent. Sure, the Lions could use any player with talent, restricted or not. But any free agent worth signing would cost dearly in draft picks, and the Lions need quantity over quality. The Lions need bodies. Lots of them...and hopefully talented.
You don't build a team through free agency. You build through the draft. Free agency is best used judiciously, to fill a few holes on a team on the cusp of contending. As we've seen over the past decade here in Detroit, the Lions are not on the cusp of anything.
2. Which Free Agent Running Back (Westbrook, Taylor, LT, Sproles, T.Jones, Johnson, et al) would you like to see the Lions sign - if any - and why?
First off, let's eliminate any restricted free agent who is going to cost the Lions a high draft pick. So Leon Washington, Lendale White, Cadallic Williams, Ronnie Brown, Jerome Harrison, Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, Jerious Norwood, all are out of the question.
Once the young, talented, restricted backs are off the board, all that's left are never-gonna-bes (Too numerous to mention), used-to-bes (Ahman Green, LaDainian Tomlinson), career backups (Ryan Moats), always injured (Brian Westbrook, Willie Parker) and crazy (Larry Johnson), leaving a couple of possibilities. Thomas Jones and Chester Taylor. Unfortunately, both are over 30, and would be expensive to sign (Jones moreso than Taylor).
An NFL running back over 30 is the equivalent of a 40+ year old baseball player in the post steroids era. Their stats could, and likely will, drop off a cliff without notice. Meaning the Lions should stay away from any back on the bad side of being in their 3rd decade of life.
If the Lions are going to find a compliment/replacement for Kevin Smith, it'll be through the draft, not free agency.
3. If the Lions could sign only 3 free agents, who would you like to see them sign? (dream scenario, realistic scenario, or both)
I'm going with a realistic scenario, as a dream scenario would just depress me, and I just don't see the Lions getting all spendy, even in an upcapped year.
Aaron Kampman DE: Kampman played LB in a 3-4 in Green Bay, a defense he doesn't fit. He would fit damn nicely into Detroit's 4-3 as a pass rushing DE. If there is one thing (of many) the Lions didn't get from the defensive line last season is a consistent pass rush. Kampmann, who had 37 sacks in the 3 seasons previous to '09, would give the Lions a long missing outside pass rush (if healthy, as he's recovering from an ACL injury). It's something we haven't seen...Hell, it's been so long, I don't even remember.
Kevin Walter WR: Amazingly enough, after all the draft picks and free agents, the Lions STILL badly need a couple of wide receivers opposite Megatron. Walter is a solid slot receiver, a player who has shown to be a nice compliment to a very talented wide out in his own right, Andre Johnson in Houston. Walter would be an excellent pickup as a number 2 or 3 wide out.
Chris Redmond, QB: Redmond stepped in for an injured Matt Ryan in Atlanta, and played well, resurrecting his career in the process. Why Redmond? The Lions desperately need a backup QB. Redmond would come in with no expectations he would start, would be relatively inexpensive and give the Lions a modicum of insurance at the QB position. They could do a lot worse for a backup...and did in 2009.
4. If Cromartie is released, do you want the Lions to sign him?
Antonio Cromartie has caused problems off the field, and has declined on the field. Obviously, the Bolts know something is up with him. Why would they entertain letting a corner who had 10 picks in 2007 leave otherwise?
If he's not going to cost the Lions anything more than cash, then Cromartie is worth taking a flier. The talent is there...somewhere.Though the Lions should do so with all caution, being aware for any red flags. In the pass happy NFL, no team will release a quality cornerback, unless there is good reason.
In Cromartie's case, all I can say is...caveat emptor.
For the rest of the Lions blogosphere's answers to these burning free agency questions, head over to Roar of the Lions!
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