Detroit Lions: Bob Quinn, Matt Patricia should remember ‘buyer beware’
By Robert Jones
We’ve all seen trades and free agent signings around the league that didn’t work out. It’s not all that uncommon for a star in one city to be less productive when they get traded or sign with a new team.
The change in system and coaching style means that the player being acquired will often be asked to assume different responsibilities or do things they haven’t before. Sometimes they continue to excel, other times they fail miserably.
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Remember the Albert Haynesworth signing? What about the Roy Williams or Herschel Walker trades? Or to help hit home here in Detroit, the Scott Mitchell signing?
Now obviously the draft is a crap-shoot as well. No one knows that better than Lions fans. Do the names Andre Ware and Joey Harrington hit a sore spot?
Here’s the point, look at the teams left in the playoffs. All of them have been constructed through good drafting with a few players acquired through trades and free agency to finish the job. In other words, you don’t build a team through free agency or trades.
No one in Detroit wants a long drawn out re-building project. It’s already gone on for 60 years more or less. So while it is incumbent for Bob Quinn to use what resources he has to improve the Lions, he needs to use them wisely.
Free agency and trades sound good, but unless your acquiring young, unknown players those moves add up against the salary cap. Not to mention the fact that anytime a team is willing to part with a talented player there is a reason for it.
The Lions are in a good position to make the most out of this offseason since they have plenty of cap space and nine draft picks, but I would suggest they do what championship teams do; concentrate on acing the draft and be very judicious in free agency and trades.
The move that will probably have the biggest effect on the Lions fortunes next season will be the hiring of their new offensive coordinator. Yet the acquisition of more talent for the new OC to work with, as well as more defensive talent for Patricia, will determine just how explosive the Lions will be on both sides of the ball.
Next. 6 players the Lions could trade for this offseason. dark
Smart drafting with a few shrewd free agent signings, topped with a possible trade could be just what the Doctor ordered for the Lions. But Quinn and Patricia better do their homework and remember ‘buyer beware’.