As the Detroit Lions look to be starting the new season next week, it’s imperative that they help fans get on board by winning prior to the season starting.
The Detroit Lions and the Bob Quinn-Matt Patricia era are at a critical juncture going into their third season together and the league year starting next week. Quinn, the fifth-year vice president-general manager, and head coach Matt Patricia’s fates are bound together, either this year will show huge improvements or we’ve been promised major changes.
According to the Spotrac website, the Lions have about $47 million in free cap space to spend, ranked near the middle of the league, but the question for us to consider this week is, “The Lions have the money to win but does the front office have the ability to execute a quick retool of the roster?”
Kick In The Crotch Weekly, so named for much of the Detroit Lions’ fan experience, is normally starting to get excited for free agency and the NFL Draft but this year feels much like the last year of former head coach Jim Caldwell’s tenure.
No one likes a Debbie Downer but given the trajectory of the last two years and the way players have spoken about the team, it would be tough to be optimistic even with the rosiest of glasses on. What can happen in the next couple of weeks that would turn some frowns upside down?
Detroit Lions’ open to free agency
Next week starts the NFL year and with it, the start of free agency. This is the first step to showing that the team is heading in the right direction.
It’s also the first chance for Quinntricia to show that they are panicking and going to blow all of the salary cap quickly to make splash signings. That hasn’t been the standard operating procedure of the front office but Quinn hasn’t been under this kind of pressure to win now, before, either.
Our guess is that he will not outwardly operate differently than in past years, perhaps to our own chagrin. What we would expect is some movement fairly early in the market, perhaps not from signing a top option but from a secondary option with upside, like with cornerback Justin Coleman last year. Addressing a big hole in the roster will go a long way to getting a good start to next season.
That first week or so, which has not been moved due to Corona Virus concerns, will be a bellwether for our feelings going into the draft and ultimately how we feel as summer approaches.