Detroit Lions: 3 free agent edge defenders to consider signing

As NFL free agency approaches, here are three edge defenders that the Detroit Lions could acquire in order to re-energize their defensive front.

Remember all of those explosive quarterback pressures that the Detroit Lions’ pass rushers racked up in 2019? How about their endless tackles for loss and non-stop one-on-one victories on the edge?

Of course you don’t since those moments were few and far between during that painful 3-12-1 campaign. The Lions’ defense, projected by many prior to the season to be a unit on the rise, was wholly disappointing, due much in part to an at times toothless edge defending unit.

The Lions paid a steep price to land arguably the best player on last year’s free-agent market in former New England Patriot edge defender Trey Flowers, and after a slow start, he performed about as well as expected. However, he isn’t the kind of player who can carry an edge corps by himself, and he needs help that his current unit-mates just aren’t able to provide.

Behind Flowers, Romeo Okwara pulled a disappearing act, totaling just 1.5 in 2019 sacks a year after piling up a career-best 7.5. Rookie Austin Bryant struggled with injuries, limiting him to just four games and a goose egg in the sack column.

Veteran JACK linebacker Devon Kennard hit 7.0 sacks for the second straight season, but three of those came in the Lions’ season opener. He’ll be back, but he may face some competition.

The Lions’ defensive scheme calls for their edge defenders to generally control two gaps, including a sizable one on the outside. This can limit their opportunities to put up high sack numbers, and while that statistic doesn’t tell the whole story, the unit’s inability to consistently affect opposing passing games wasn’t offset enough by their middling run defense last year.

So how can they improve that performance in 2020? The Lions spent top-dollar to land Flowers a year ago, and they have a pair of high picks in the first two rounds of this April’s draft to potentially select from a talented pool of edge prospects. Hence, don’t expect them to be bidders for some of the more coveted players at the position in this year’s free agency group.

Instead, here are three more reasonable options that could fill important roles this season…