2021 Free Agents - Current Lions and possible future Lions

[Karnage84]

Just taking a look at the upcoming free agent class and how it will impact the Lions. 

Assuming that Glenn is named the DC, he could bring in a few ex-Saints to help us out. 

Positions as per Spotrac.

Cornerbacks (PFF)

• PJ Williams (28) - 37.5
• Justin Hardee (27) - 60.4
• Johnson Bademosi (31) - No score
• Ken Crawley (28) - 84.2

Safeties

• Marcus Williams, FS (25) - 79.3 (Spotrac market value = $9.4M)
• DJ Swearinger, FS (30) - 60.6
• JT Gray, SS (25) - 78.7

Linebackers

• Alex Anzalone, OLB (27) - 60.9
• Craig Robertson, ILB (33) - 37.0

Defensive Line

• Sheldon Rankins, DT (27) - 57.8 (Spotrac market value = $11.3M)
• Noah Spence, DE (27) - No score
• Trey Hendrickson, DE (27) - 72.1 (Spotrac market value = $10.3M)

[Karnage84]

RAMS

With Holmes having just left the organization, he'll be very familiar with a number of these guys. 

Defensive Line

• Morgan Fox, DE (27) - 59.1

Linebackers

• Leonard Floyd, OLB (29) - 69.0 (Spotrac market value $13.1M)
• Derek Rivers, OLB (27) - 58.2
• Samson Ebukam, OLB (26) - 56.9
• Travin Howard, OLB (25) - No score
• Natrez Patrick, LB (24) - No score

Cornerback

• Troy Hill (30) - 74.2
• Darious Williams (28) - 80.0 (RFA)

Safety

• John Johnson, SS (26) - 85.6 (Spotrac market value $8.3M)

[Sllim Pickens]

I hope we don't start with this New Orleans or Rams only connections again like we did NE, although there are a couple names I'd take on that list.  My take is DC knows you need talent and Holmes may not have scouted NFL players after drafted but should have a good idea of a lot of the players from his draft scouting and can easily catch up on their development.  We will not restrict ourselves to players who have been on the same team as these guys. 

I just hope we add something to the DL in both the draft and free agency.  I'd rather sign Hendrickson than Okwara, and Rankins could replace a couple of our DTs but also like Solomon Thomas, Leonard Williams (not likely but can dream), or even bringing Suh back. 

 

[Karnage84]

2 minutes ago, Sllim Pickens said:

I hope we don't start with this New Orleans or Rams only connections again like we did NE, although there are a couple names I'd take on that list.  My take is DC knows you need talent and Holmes may not have scouted NFL players after drafted but should have a good idea of a lot of the players from his draft scouting and can easily catch up on their development.  We will not restrict ourselves to players who have been on the same team as these guys. 

I just hope we add something to the DL in both the draft and free agency.  I'd rather sign Hendrickson than Okwara, and Rankins could replace a couple of our DTs but also like Solomon Thomas, Leonard Williams (not likely but can dream), or even bringing Suh back. 

 

It is a relatively common occurrence to happen and a sound starting point. I don't want the team to only pull from those two teams but we would already be starting off with some level of diversity in the teams with LA and New Orleans compared to the past. That's already a huge improvement over single sourcing guys through the NE pipeline only. 

We have needs in the secondary (CB and SS, I have a little more faith in Walker returning to form if he's playing FS) and our new DC was just coaching these guys. They know him and his scheme. 

Hendrickson - would you want to sign him to a $10.3M/APY contract vs Okwara for say $6M/APY?

[Millenhater]

I know this is concentrating on defense but Josh Reynolds is a guy I hope we go after.  I think he could be a Marvin Jones type signing.  

[Karnage84]

Just now, Millenhater said:

I know this is concentrating on defense but Josh Reynolds is a guy I hope we go after.  I think he could be a Marvin Jones type signing.  

Haven't gotten to the offense yet but that's a good name to bring up. 

I am kind of waiting on seeing who we bring on as OC before diving into those waters. Defense is also our #1, #2 and #3 priority.

[Millenhater]

Also am I the only one who what's to extend Tracy Walker to an extension?  

I know he had a bad year but I also think he was out of position and Patricia totally made everyone worse somehow.  It would be a roll of the dice but if we can buy low, move him back to FS and hope he becomes a steal for us.

[Sllim Pickens]

9 minutes ago, Karnage84 said:

It is a relatively common occurrence to happen and a sound starting point. I don't want the team to only pull from those two teams but we would already be starting off with some level of diversity in the teams with LA and New Orleans compared to the past. That's already a huge improvement over single sourcing guys through the NE pipeline only. 

We have needs in the secondary (CB and SS, I have a little more faith in Walker returning to form if he's playing FS) and our new DC was just coaching these guys. They know him and his scheme. 

Hendrickson - would you want to sign him to a $10.3M/APY contract vs Okwara for say $6M/APY?

I would not want to pay Hendrickson that much more, but Sportrac has them both at a 10M market value.  Both struggle in run D but excel at pass rushing.  If they are the same price, I'd like to try something new. 

 

As for using pipelines, it might be common to sign one or two guys they are familiar with, but its not common that 20% of a roster previously played for a team.  I am fine a few from these teams, I would not sign a guy because of where he played, I just wouldn't keep it to them.  I don't think Glenn has to run a D exactly like NO, so familiarity might be moot.  Its about adding talent, these guys are smart and can pick up a system relatively quick. 

[Karnage84]

1 minute ago, Millenhater said:

Also am I the only one who what's to extend Tracy Walker to an extension?  

I know he had a bad year but I also think he was out of position and Patricia totally made everyone worse somehow.  It would be a roll of the dice but if we can buy low, move him back to FS and hope he becomes a steal for us.

100% agree. I think he'd come rather cheaply given his recent play. I'd be open to adding John Johnson and pairing him with Walker. 

From what I've read of Dennis Allen's scheme (and I'm assuming that Glenn would pull a lot from this scheme), they tend to play quite a bit of 4-2-5. However, DA seems very much willing to adapt his scheme to fit his personnel (which would be a nice change for once).

[Karnage84]

3 minutes ago, Sllim Pickens said:

I would not want to pay Hendrickson that much more, but Sportrac has them both at a 10M market value.  Both struggle in run D but excel at pass rushing.  If they are the same price, I'd like to try something new. 

 

As for using pipelines, it might be common to sign one or two guys they are familiar with, but its not common that 20% of a roster previously played for a team.  I am fine a few from these teams, I would not sign a guy because of where he played, I just wouldn't keep it to them.  I don't think Glenn has to run a D exactly like NO, so familiarity might be moot.  Its about adding talent, these guys are smart and can pick up a system relatively quick. 

That's all fair. I haven't even really looked at Lions FA's recently so I didn't see the Spotrac value for Okwara. 

Glenn can run whatever scheme that he wants to, he's just been a part of the Saints for the past 5 years and they've generally been pretty successful. 

[Sllim Pickens]

1 minute ago, Karnage84 said:

That's all fair. I haven't even really looked at Lions FA's recently so I didn't see the Spotrac value for Okwara. 

Glenn can run whatever scheme that he wants to, he's just been a part of the Saints for the past 5 years and they've generally been pretty successful. 

He also played under Parcells and other coaches who had systems that were pretty successful.  So he likely will pull from all of those sources.  He can't just implement the same D New Orleans has with different coaches and be successful.  He needs to be creative in his own right. 

[Millenhater]

Part of me thinks we should just let all of our FAs go and have the down year then collect the comp picks and start the process.  Take your lumps and when Holmes has his front office/staff he will have extra ammo.  Okwara, Jones, Golladay.  That would net us 3 3rd round picks most likely.

[Karnage84]

13 minutes ago, Sllim Pickens said:

He also played under Parcells and other coaches who had systems that were pretty successful.  So he likely will pull from all of those sources.  He can't just implement the same D New Orleans has with different coaches and be successful.  He needs to be creative in his own right. 

Absolutely, but you do have your roots and then build off of them. I don't think you can equate adding a couple guys in year 1, from a team that you just left, and who are familiar with your base scheme to adding guys that exclusively come from one team. I get that we want to get away from the whole "player added has NE ties" but we also shouldn't be ruling out ex-Rams/Saints just because either

[BarryTheBest]

3 hours ago, Millenhater said:

Also am I the only one who what's to extend Tracy Walker to an extension?  

I know he had a bad year but I also think he was out of position and Patricia totally made everyone worse somehow.  It would be a roll of the dice but if we can buy low, move him back to FS and hope he becomes a steal for us.

If Glenn becomes our DC, I fully expect Walker to take a huge step forward. I would sign him to an extension this off-season in anticipation of that happening.

[BarryTheBest]

2 hours ago, Karnage84 said:

Absolutely, but you do have your roots and then build off of them. I don't think you can equate adding a couple guys in year 1, from a team that you just left, and who are familiar with your base scheme to adding guys that exclusively come from one team. I get that we want to get away from the whole "player added has NE ties" but we also shouldn't be ruling out ex-Rams/Saints just because either

My thought is.. We must be open to signing players from any team when it comes to free agency. Too many times Quinntricia targeted specifically NE players because they knew the system, not because they had the highest amount of talent. So if the players we target are from the Rams/Saints, I am fine with that as long as they give us the most talent that we can sign. 

I have a feeling that we will see DC/BH blaze their own path though. The more I read about the way the front office is structured, the more excited I am getting. The GM and HC roles are partners in a like cause, opposed to a chain of command structure. Still much to be determined of course so no juice drinking yet.