3 best moves the Detroit Lions have made this offseason

1. Signing David Montgomery to replace Jamaal Williams

Many Lions fans simply would not entertain the idea Jamaal Williams could leave in free agency. I’m paraphrasing fairly poorly via Facebook comments, but “He likes it here, he’ll take less to stay” or “They like him too much, they won’t let him go” were among the things they said. But coming off his career year, it behooved Williams to see what was out there on the open market. If he came back to the Lions, and maybe even took less in doing so, so be it.

But on Tuesday night of the first week of free agency, the news came the Lions had agreed to a deal with former Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery. Still, some fans didn’t see it as a full elimination of Williams coming back. But clearly, Montgomery was the pivot when talks with Williams weren’t going anywhere. He also happens to be a far better running back. So much so, he was hard to easily see as a pivot option within the idea Williams might sign elsewhere.

Williams also showed a flash of his true colors, despite apparent evidence he turned down the same deal Montgomery ultimately took, when he called the offer the Lions made to him “disrespectful” during his first press conference after agreeing to a deal with the New Orleans Saints. So his loss to the Lions’ “culture” is probably overblown, and there have already been glimpses Montgomery will be a nice fit in that respect.

Some of the shine of signing Montgomery, in terms of his own production potential in the Lions’ offense, was taken away with the drafting of Jahmyr Gibbs. But it was still a great move to sign him, replacing the limited Williams with a better player and taking a good player away from a division rival in one swoop.