By it's sheer nature, even with all the work that's done by teams to determine ideal fits, NFL free agency is still somewhat of a crapshoot. For the Detroit Lions, overall fit is just as (if not more) important than someone's sheer on-field fit when they sign a free agent.
One year is sometimes too early to definitely call a free agent signing good or bad. But when a player is only signed to a one-year deal, that stands as the definitive sample to analyze and the Lions did that a few times last offseason.
Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus has named each team's best and worst signing from 2024 free agency. For the Lions, the choices were remarkably simple.
"Best free agent signing: G Kevin Zeitler"
"Zeitler arrived in Detroit as the replacement up front for Jonah Jackson, who signed with the Rams. The 34-year-old played brilliantly, earning the highest run-blocking grade of his career and his highest overall grade since 2014."
"Worst free agent signing: ED Marcus Davenport"
"Davenport was brought in to give the Lions some pass-rush depth. He played well in his first game with the team but played just one more game after that before his season ended due to a triceps injury."
Zeitler missed two games this season, including the playoff loss to the Commanders, but that's nitpicking. He was PFF's No. 3 guard by overall grade (86.8), with the second-best run blocking grade (87.2) at the position.
As Wasserman noted Davenport played well in Week 1 (six quarterback pressures, 0.5 sack). But then he missed Week 2 with a groin issue, and he suffered his season ending triceps injury in Week 3. He played just 89 defensive snaps.
Lions have easy decisions on Kevin Zeitler and Marcus Davenport this offseason
Zeitler's wife made it clear on social media that he's not retiring this offseason, referencing "Year 14" after the season-ending loss to Washington. There will surely be a solid market for his services in free agency, and a multi-year deal isn't out of the question even though he'll turn 35 right before the league year starts.
The Lions will surely do everything they can to bring Zeitler back, and it's possible he'll take less than he could get elsewhere to stick around at least one more year.
The Lions signed Davenport knowing his injury history, which is why he came so cheaply. This year's injury was random and unlucky, as Cardinals offensive tackle Paris Johnson chopped down on his arm in a pretty dirty move, but there's no getting around that Davenport has only played six games over the last two seasons.
The Lions clearly went 1-for-2 on Zeitler and Davenport in 2024 free agency. As for which of them will be brought back this offseason, or at least who will have real effort applied to bringing them back, that's also incredibly obvious.