Four Free Agents the Detroit Lions should consider signing
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Lions look to be a much-improved team heading into the 2019 season after an underwhelming 6-10 record last year under first-year head coach Matt Patricia.
After back-to-back 9-7 seasons, General Manager Bob Quinn decided to give Jim Caldwell the boot. In his defense, Caldwell wasn’t “his” guy; he was a holdover from the previous regime. Bob Quinn, as many of you, already know joined the Detroit Lions organization from the Patriots. After much speculation that Martha Ford was calling the shots led to Caldwell sticking around longer than Quinn would have liked but Ford seemingly adored Caldwell.
Although I don’t consider Caldwell a terrible coach by any stretch of the imagination, by keeping him the franchise including its owner was settling for mediocrity. 9-7 is a lot better than 6-10, but the hope is Patricia once he gets his system in place, players in place will be able to elevate this team to becoming an 11-5/12-4 type of team opening the window for a Championship before a full rebuild becomes necessary.
The city, along with its fans, has grown impatient, no one can blame us. It’s time we have a contending team on the field. Quinn has built a defense that has the making to be a top-five defense in the league for the 2019 season.
Under the guidance of Matt Patricia, they were able to land the big fish in free agency, Trey Flowers to bolster an already above average defensive line. Damon Harrison might be the top run stopper in the game when you put a defensive end who refuses to be pushed around beside him along with another run stuffer in A’Shawn Robinson inside it will undoubtedly free up either Da’Shawn Hand or one of the rookie DE’s either Austin Bryant or P.J Johnson opposite Flowers to create havoc one on one. If that second end can regularly generate a push, it will bode exceptionally well for the rest of this defense.
The Detroit Lions also added Danny Amendola to help fill the void Golden Tate left in this offense. He won’t be able to replace Tate’s production fully, but he costs merely a fraction of Tate. Amendola is another former Pats’ wide-out, look for him to serve as a safety blanket for Matthew Stafford underneath working the middle of the field.
Bob Quinn also landed another player familiar with head coach Matt Patricia. The Detroit Lions signed the best available slot corner on the market, Justin Coleman. He spent some time with Patricia in New England. He also thrived in Seattle. Many consider him as the best slot or nickel corner in the league.
The signing of Amendola is ok, but it is nowhere near as good as bringing in Coleman and Flowers. It’s been a massive offseason for the Detroit Lions, expect this team to surprise a lot of people in 2019. In this article, we have a few other free agents who remain unsigned that the team should consider bringing in to help reinforce their depth chart and won’t break the bank.