Detroit Lions: Whether or not to retain Travis Swanson no snap decision
By Matt Bosko
Detroit Lions’ center Travis Swanson is a restricted free agent. With injury history a concern, General Manager Bob Quinn has a difficult decision to make.
For a professional athlete, the best type of ability is availability. Regardless of talent, a player is not helpful to his team if he cannot take the field.
Detroit Lions‘ starting center Travis Swanson ended the last two seasons on injured reserve with concussions. One can only speculate about the severity of the brain injuries, but each occurrence cut Swanson’s season short with multiple weeks to go. In each case, the team determined he would not recover before the conclusion of the regular season, and shut him down entirely.
His future with the team, and perhaps in the game of football, is in serious doubt. When healthy, Swanson is a capable center, and will command a market this offseason. It just may not involve the Lions.
Though the Lions have with plenty of cap space, general manager Bob Quinn may turn his attention elsewhere. It is tough to justify throwing money at a player with an extensive injury history – one riddled with serious concussions – especially when his replacement is already on the roster.
Quinn drafted Graham Glasgow in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft as an insurance policy for Swanson, who seemed to regress in the previous season. Swanson’s performance picked up the following year, and Glasgow’s versatility allowed him to shine at guard.
Swanson’s improvement, however, did not carry over into the 2017 season. Pro Football Focus gave him a 43.1 overall grade for this past season and rated him the number 33 center in the league, a less-than-ideal ranking in a league with 32 starting centers.
When injuries kept Swanson from taking the field, Glasgow moved over to center and proved to be a more than reliable replacement, arguably out-performing Swanson in the last two seasons.
With so much seemingly against retaining the fourth-year center, the one factor that favors Swanson is the same one coveted by the NFL’s most successful franchises: depth.
The Lions entered last season believing they fortified the offensive line by signing free agents Rick Wagner and T.J. Lang. At last, franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford will have time in the pocket to survey the field and pick apart the defense. Right?
Denied.
Instead, Stafford was sacked 47 times, the most in his career. Even more startling, as Kyle Meinke wrote, that number could have been higher by at least 20 if not for Stafford’s ability to escape sacks.
Several factors contributed to the inflated sack total, including a miserable rushing attack and the offense’s predictability, which all boiled down to injuries to the offensive line.
The Lions sported over a dozen combinations of linemen on offense this season, with the biggest hit coming as early as training camp.
Taylor Decker, the team’s first-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft, quickly established himself as one of the premier tackles in the game in his rookie season. During offseason OTAs, Decker required shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. The Lions traded for colossal bust Greg Robinson for damage control, a move that – to put it delicately – did not work out very well.
Relying on backups, backups to the backups, and sliding starters out of position is a recipe for disaster. The Lions did not field their full starting offensive line until Week 11, and after Week 12, were unable to do so for the rest of the season.
If the Lions are able to keep Swanson around for a team-friendly deal, the investment in depth along the offensive line may well be worth it. After all, there is no guarantee that Glasgow will stay healthy for a full season as a starter.
Next: Detroit Lions free agent predictions
Jettisoning Swanson requires Quinn to either draft another center, or sign a less-talented free agent as a backup. With Swanson, the Lions know what he will bring to the table, for better or for worse. Quinn must judge whether the investment in his starting snapper is worth it, hardly a snap decision to make.