Detroit Lions Free Agent Prediction: Riley Reiff

Prediction

Last week I made a poll on Twitter, asking fans if the Lions should re-sign Riley Reiff, here are the results:

Then to take it a step further I developed another poll, adding in the costs it may take to retain him:

You can see most of the votes landed in the area I alluded to earlier: the $5.5-6.75 million range.

I expect Bob Quinn to approach Reiff with a deal in this range and I also think Reiff will turn it down, based on his agents advice. Reiff will likely want to test the market and see if he can get a team to bite on left tackle money.

Looking at the limited options to replace Reiff on the roster, in free agency or the draft is not very appealing to me. But I also know Quinn is not going to pay a right tackle left tackle money. If Reiff tests the market and asks Detroit to match a deal, I still wouldn’t expect that deal to exceed $7 million to come from Detroit.

Prediction: Riley Reiff leaves in free agency

If Quinn can add Vollmer as a temporary stop-gap and then target a player like Magnuson or Moton in the third round of the draft, it would provide a solution for 2017 with an eye towards the future.

Next: Breaking Down Larry Warford's Free Agency

As the draft season progresses, more players will present themselves as options and scheme fits for the Lions scheme, so make sure you are checking back at DetroitJockCity.com for future articles. You can also follow me on Twitter (@erikschlitt) for more continuing analysis.