Receivers and Tight Ends
The Lions need to address wide receiver regardless of whether Calvin Johnson retires or not (spoiler: he will). The current depth chart lists Golden Tate, Corey Fuller and TJ Jones. Lance Moore wants to be back but the Lions get to decide on that one. As far as free agency goes, there are essentially three names to watch: Travis Benjamin, Marvin Jones and Jermaine Kearse. Other options include Anquan Boldin and Rishard Matthews, but I think the Lions will focus their attention on one of those first three names.
There’s always the chance that Detroit looks to the draft to address the gap at receiver and there are options to be found there, but free agency allows the team to fill a need with a proven commodity. Regardless, there are receiving options in each round of the draft. I wouldn’t expect the Lions to address this position before the compensatory pick at the end of the third round and that might be a good spot to match talent with value. Some options that might be available there are De’Runnya Wilson, Kenny Lawler and Keyarris Garrett.
Tight ends on the roster are currently Eric Ebron, Brandon Pettigrew, Tim Wright and Bear Pascoe. The Lions have to do something, but it’s tough to figure out how they should proceed. Pettigrew won’t be ready for the start of the season after tearing his ACL. The Lions need a blocking tight end and I’m sure they don’t want to go into 2016 with Pascoe and Ebron as their only options there. The problem is there aren’t a ton of attractive options in free agency or the draft. Bryce Williams or Jerell Adams are some day 3 options. If Detroit addresses tight end in free agency, it’s going to be someone boring.
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