How each division rival made life easier on the Lions this offseason

This offseason, the Detroit Lions have done quite a bit in order to not only repeat their success from a season ago, but take it even further.

Detroit recently rewarded quarterback Jared Goff with a rich extension, showing their faith in him as a franchise quarterback and proving their seriousness about winning. In the 2024 NFL Draft, Detroit added a couple of top-tier defensive backs early on, taking care of their biggest weakness from last year's roster.

All in all, they should be set up for a good season ahead. But, what about the rest of the NFC North? Each rival team made some notable moves to improve, but also had their share of misses. Let's look at how the three other divisional teams may have helped Detroit out this offseason.

Minnesota didn't address left guard

It's great that the Vikings were able to land their guy in J.J. McCarthy without having to move up too much, added Aaron Jones to the back field and are hopefully making progress on a Justin Jefferson deal.

But, one area they did not help a whole lot, offensively, was at left guard, where Blake Brandel is slated to start. Last season, Brandel played 273 snaps at left tackle, and the Vikings are hopeful that a move inside to guard will help.

But, if last year was any indication, position doesn't necessarily matter if Brandel cannot keep up. He wasn't particularly good in run blocking or pass blocking. Either way you spin it, Brandel didn't look like an NFL starter.