But, as much as I want it, odds are that the Cutler thing isn’t going to happen. It leaves my eyes salty with tears, but it just doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards for us.

And if the cards fall that way, then the number one draft pick may be spent on Matt Stafford. At the very least, it looks that way and if it goes that way, you have Culpepper to start and Stafford to sit and learn; Where does that leave Stanton? Out. Plain and simple, there isn’t a place for him. He’s young and I think he has potential, but Stafford as the no. 1 overall pick will be the future of the franchise and not just monetarily.

Stanton is just leftovers of the old regime, one coach and GM ago and two Offensive Coordinators ago.

It pains me to say this as I like Stanton a lot (I’m a Spartan, he’s one of mine). I even remember when that idiot John L. Smith put him in on special teams at the Alamo Bowl during which Nebraska was blasting us to pieces, and he took a helmet to the knee on a punt return. Your future starting quarterback being thrown to the wolves on a pointless play in a game that was already a loss 2 quarters prior. That knee always haunted him throughout his MSU career and I strongly feel that that held him back and caused other injuries such as his shoulder injuries that nagged him constantly. Why? How? *because he couldn’t slide*. The knee.

Remember that U of M game? He ran all over one of the best defenses in the country and had them running scared for 3 quarters, but it all fell apart after he came out of the game with a hurt shoulder. We could have controlled the clock had we had Stanton.

But that’s neither here nor there.

There were some inherrant problems with Stanton that we saw first hand this season. Well… We saw it on the internet. Because you couldn’t see any of the games on tv and who the hell would go? Pay money to see that crap?! Screw that.

We saw (those of us that kept watch the Lions after week 4) Stanton hold onto the ball too long in the interest of trying to make a play which lead to vicious sacks and turnovers. To his credit, he plays with no fear and a gritty determination. He was an excellent goal line qb that wasn’t afraid to jump up and try to punch it in. He has a decent arm, one that will hopefully get more accurate with time and a real offensive line and … well, I just like him, okay?

If the Lions can’t find a place for him this year, they need to cut him for his own good. This is a critical time in Drew’s career and a team needs to give him some snaps and allow him to integrate into a system, not as a band aid for your IR’d qb and your free agent that had the playbook for 3 days and got hurt, Stanton needs to be utilized as a legit talent that you can do something with.

Someone else will pick up this gem and brush the dirt off of it. Good Luck Drew!

Dare a Lions fan dream?

There are 2 major factors in our way from acquiring Jay Cutler:

1.) Denver is going to want a viable quarterback to utilize no matter what deal they make. They aren’t coming off of a trash can season in Denver, despite the head coaching turnover they were only one game out of the playoffs last season. In this situation, we have little to offer. Well… We have less than little… we have NOTHING. Had Matt Stafford or Sanchez really managed to stand out, this story would be playing out very differently. Stafford looked good… But not Peyton Manning good. It’s not a case where we could offer Culpepper… No one wanted him and I feel it’s safe to say that hasn’t really changed.

2.) Competition. There is a lot of it. Cutler is coveted by many teams in the league and snatching him up will prove difficult. Working in our favor is the fact that other teams desperate for a QB won’t have much to offer Denver either, and in that regard we can at least guarantee them their choice of Stafford or Sanchez with our no. 1 pick. My dream trade would be our no. 1 for Cutler and Denver’s no. 12. Wann throw in a 4th or something? cool.

I was listening to some sports talk radio and a caller threw out a GENIUS idea: Get Cleveland involved in this. They have Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson, both possible starters and they have a great deal of money tied up in both players. Can we work a crazy trade where Quinn or Anderson end up in Denver, we get cutler and Cleveland gets a pick or something like that? Cleveland is sitting at 4 and I’m fine with whatever lands there frankly. Defense… Offense… we need both and at 4 something we need will be there and Cleveland can go after whomever they want.

A guy can dream, right? There has to be a way to land Cutler, it has to be there. Mayhew has made magic happen with Roy Williams and Kitna, there has to be a way to finagle this kid out of Denver and get them something they want. We have the first overall to offer, it’s not like we’re coming to table with nothing here, we’ve got the key to the candy store here and this is a talent rich draft at many meat and potatoes positions on Offense and Defense (except QB frankly).

There are still several weeks left and trust me, not much is going to happen immediately. Denver isn’t stupid as an organization, they are annoyed with Cutlers behavior but they realize his value. Teams want this guy and they simply aren’t going to settle for the first flimsy offer that comes their way; they are going to protect their interests.

Will his middle initial be on the jersey at any point or is that reserved for other Roy Williams? 

Jerry Jones was obviously chomping at the bit to get this guy, the first down thing Roy does will now be the face of the Texas franchise. Unless he’s got something else up his sleeve. This is landmark stuff here too, trades like this at the deadline rarely happen. and frankly it was a fabulous deal for the Lions, they fleeced Mr. Jones. Terrel Owens went for a 4th rounder. These kind of things usually only happen on the xbox. 

In Other News Cherilus is getting the bump in favor of Foster, so he will be protecting Orlovsky in the pocket, who also has the start against the Texans. I find the move confusing, as Cherilous is the future of the franchise yet this move denotes that Rod is thinking in terms of “win now!”. Yet, they canned Kitna who clearly stated that he feels ready to play, sweeping him under the rug for the rest of the season. Confused as I am? I guess we’ll just explain it with our blanket Detroit explanation: “It’s the Lions”. In the end, the two players most vocally disapproving of the new offense are gone. You may conclude that Marinelli feels that Collette is his guy and that’s that. Does that mean that we are sticking with Rod next season? If that is so, will you be able to garner a top notch general manager if the qualifier for the job is he’s stuck with the coaching refuse as the previous regime? GAH! It’s MADDENING.

Let’s look at that prolific offense. We were supposed to pound the rock. Have they ran the ball with moderate success at any point? We were supposed to pressure the Quarterback. What were the margins of loss before the 2 point loss? (as if that’s even remotely presentable in a professional league?) Jimmy C is clearly in over his head. He’s gotta GO! I would fire him after the Loss to the Texans. Simple as that.