Detroit Lions: Three players that need to be released in 2020
By Bob Heyrman
Rick Wagner
It’s time for Bob Quinn to set his pride aside and finally part ways with the teams starting right-tackle Rick Wagner.
When the Detroit Lions signed Wagner, he was one of the better free agents available. Detroit desperately needed an upgrade, making the signing a good one. The Baltimore Ravens had Ronnie Stanley coming in to take over as their RT, and he’s one of the very best in the game, making Wagner expendable.
Wagner hasn’t performed well at all with the Detroit Lions. His first season with the Lions was fantastic. He was able to produce above-average rankings across the board, but it’s been a consistent downhill trend since.
During his second year with the Lions, he proved to be a very reliable pass-blocking tackle but really struggled to provide much as a run blocker. In 2019, he was flat out terrible across the board. He was below average as a pass-blocker and a run-blocker. How can you keep an expensive tackle that struggles to do either well?
Rick graded out as the worst starting offensive lineman on the Detroit Lions during the ’19 season. He graded out as one of the worst starting tackles in all of football. Wagner’s cap hit is a whopping $11.9 million. If the Lions were to cut him, they would free up $6.1 million but would have $5.8 million in dead money. Rick performed poor enough last season to justify the dead money and spend that freed up money elsewhere.
Potential Replacements: The Detroit Lions could insert Tyrell Crosby, who oddly enough posted better blocking numbers during his time last season. I’m not a fan of Crosby starting, but that’s how bad our RT situation is.
Detroit could also draft Georgia’s LT Andrew Thomas and start him at right tackle. It isn’t the worst idea to have a young tackle break into the league as a teams’ RT. After a slow start to the year, Taylor Decker rebounded in a great way. He deserves to anchor the left side for another season.