Detroit Lions Weekly Recap

With free agency well under way, the Lions have been making tons of moves and this has easily been the most eventful week since the offseason began.

Calvin Johnson Announces his Retirement

Lions all-time leading receiver Calvin Johnson officially announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday.

It saddens not only Lions fans, but NFL fans nationwide to see Calvin retire after just 9 seasons. He was one of the most respected players in the league and one of the great wide receivers of all-time. There has been some debate recently about whether or not Calvin should be a hall of famer, so let me just start off by saying yes, Calvin Johnson will be inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.

Now, if it were up to me, CJ would be a first-ballot hall of famer, but others say that simply because he only played 9 seasons, he shouldn’t be. We’re not going to get into that right now, but Megatron was a once in a generation type of player and he’s in the conversation with the likes of Jerry Rice and Randy Moss for the greatest receivers of all-time.

Calvin finished his career with 731 receptions, 11,619 yards, 83 touchdowns, and nearly every franchise receiving record. In all 135 games he played in, Megatron recorded at least one reception and he holds multiple NFL records; the most notable ones being:

• Most receiving yards in a single-season (1,964)
• Most receiving yards in a regulation game (329)
• Most receiving yards per game (min. 100 games – 86.1)

Free Agency Recap

The Lions have had a couple key signings early on in free agency and they’re not done yet.

The biggest signing for Detroit so far has been former Bengals wide receiver Marvin Jones who signed a 5-year, $40M deal with the team. Jones agreed to a deal prior to the start of free agency on Wednesday morning and officially signed with the team on Thursday. With Megatron retiring, the Lions needed to fill a hole at the receiver position, so Detroit did just that; they went out and signed the best wide receiver on the market.

The Lions also had a couple of depth signings by inking former Patriots safety Tavon Wilson and former Bills DT Stefan Charles to deals. Detroit has a couple of visits lined up with former Seahawks OT Russell Okung, who is one of the best remaining offensive linemen in free agency, and former Saints S Rafael Bush. There are still plenty more signings to come.

Lions Bring Back Key Players

The Lions were able to retain some key players from last season.

Detroit solidified their defensive line by re-signing DT Haloti Ngata to a 2-year, $12M deal. A couple weeks ago, defensive tackle was arguably Detroit’s biggest need, now after re-signing both starters from last season, it’s now one less thing for Lions fans to worry about.

The Lions were also able to re-sign LB Tahir Whitehead to a 2-year, $8M deal, which is huge for the defense. Nobody really expected Whitehead back with the team, especially after he scheduled a visit with the Buccaneers, so it was a shock to many when the news broke that Detroit was able to get a deal done with him.

Unfortunately safety Isa Abdul Quddus signed a 3-year, $12.75M deal with the Miami Dolphins on Thursday. Quddus was expected to be the Lions’ starting safety in 2016 after the Detroit moved on from Ihedigbo, but money talks, and the Dolphins were able to lure Quddus away, forcing the Lions to now explore other options at the safety position. Detroit might try to bring back a few other players from last season as well.

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