Detroit Lions fans need to understand patience is the key
By Robert Jones
What are Lions fans rushing into next season?
In today’s NFL drafting well is still the key to building a winner. Smart trades also fuel such transformations from losers to contenders. And we all need to understand that free agency is a tool for adding final pieces to a contender, not for building one.
Those concepts have all played out over and over again for teams that have gone from the garbage heap to the NFL penthouse.
Even in situations where the turnaround was quick over the course of two to three seasons, the basic fundamentals were still present; draft well with smart additions through trades and free agency.
So the question to Lions fans is; what do you think you’re rushing into next season?
I was talking some Lions shop with a couple of friends the other day and one of them said, ‘it’s so important to get Jared Goff some weapons this offseason.’
Why? I don’t mean that in a belligerent way, I mean it in a completely analytical way.
What will more weapons do for the Lions next season? Or better yet, how will that be different from the past 12 years of all too often ignoring the defense and getting more weapons for Matthew Stafford?
Sure Dan Campbell has preached being as competitive as possible and winning as much as the Lions are capable of, but he and Brad Holmes have also been very clear about their mission statement; where the team is presently isn’t as important as what they are building towards two years down the line.
Anyone who thinks the Lions are going to suddenly turn into contenders next season by nabbing a top-flight receiver in the draft is sorely mistaken.
The only way the turnaround will be that quick is if Brad Holmes can pull off the steal of all-time and trade the Lions’ whole current roster for the Chiefs’ current roster.
I like Brad Holmes and think he has a chance to build something here in Detroit, but the fans have to have patience. Something we are all tired of hearing.
But again, let’s be honest, this is a rebuild and quick fixes have done nothing but set this franchise even further back. We have to understand that next season is just a step towards what Holmes and Campbell are eventually trying to build.