We completed our Detroit Lions free agent 2021 profile series with one of the most complicated situations on the team. Romeo Okwara, who won the “Defensive Player of the Year” and “Best Player of the Year” awards in 2020, could have a grand prize. But since Sunday night, there has been little evidence that Lions will be the team that will write the check.
Of course, we have not yet reached the adulteration period of the free NFL agency, so that situation can change quickly. But Okwara is not an easy rehiring for Lions. There are doubts about their projections for the future, and Lions are not exactly in a financial and squad point of view to spend money on a single player with a resume as small as Okwara.
So, what should Lions do? What we are are Lions going to do? Let’s take a closer look at the situation.
Previous free agent profiles: Mohamed Sanu, Oday Aboushi, Danny Amendola, Matt Prater, Jamal Agnew, Everson Griffen, Duron Harmon, Kenny Golladay, Don Muhlbach, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Darryl Roberts, Marvin Jones Jr., Adrian Peterson, Miles Killebrew, Jarrad Davis, Tony McRae
Romeo Okwara
Expectations towards 2020
In 2019, Okwara did not have a very positive impact on the team. He collected just 1.5 bags and a forgettable PFF note of 60.7.
With Trey Flowers set to come back and block the final defensive starting position, Okwara was set to have another rotational role in 2020. And with the addition of his brother Julian Okwara and Austin Bryant’s (hopeful) growth, there just wasn’t much. hype about Romeo Okwara on the way to 2020.
To give you a sense of how most people were below him, he ranked 25th in our pre-season ranking, four positions below Jahlani Tavai, two positions below his brother Julian and just five positions above Will Harris.
Real role in 2020
16 games (9 matches): 44 tackles, 10.0 sacks, 18 QB hits, 3 forced fumbles
Degree of PFF: 56.1 on special teams, 32.2 on defense
Without a doubt, Romeo Okwara had the best season of his career in 2020. He doubled his career bags and produced more fumbles (3) last season than in the previous four combined seasons (2).
Most importantly, it was not just opportunistic bags he was counting on, as in the 7.5 bag season in 2018. Okwara scored well in almost all pressure rate statistics. In mid-November, Okwara was seventh in the ESPN pass rush victory rate metric and fourth in PFF pressure rate. See the company he kept for most of the year:
The Lions had to rely on Okwara after a season full of injuries for Trey Flowers, and he rewarded them with a season as good as we saw from a Detroit defender in Detroit in several years.
Outlook for 2021
Contract status: Unrestricted free agent
It is not surprising that Lions stopped using the franchise brand in Okwara, as it would have cost them just over $ 16 million in one season. However, it is surprising that, on the eve of the period of legal adulteration, we have not heard news about Lions and Okwara entering into negotiations for a long-term agreement.
To be fair, Okwara is a very difficult player to design. On the one hand, his 2020 season was legitimately fantastic and he will be only 26 when the season starts. He also made big numbers, despite being on a defensive line that produced little help for him.
On the other hand, Okwara is not the type of player who has already drawn double teams, and he really has just one good season on his resume. Was 2020 a fast year or a sign of serious growth to come?
However, it is an extraordinarily deep period of free agency and it can work for Lions. With names like Yannick Ngakoue Matt Judon, Shaquil Barrett and Leonard Floyd defined for the free agency, Okwara may not like the deals he offered and may consider his situation in Detroit, with his brother as a roommate, as a position too comfortable to pass. .
But will Lions make a competitive offer? The limit space is limited, and while Okwara may be a piece of the future, are Lions willing to take a chance in the middle of rebuilding a player with just a year of solid productivity?
According to Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, there is at least some interest in bringing him back.
“Lions would love to keep the edge rusher Romeo Okwara, but they chose not to mark it and believe he wants to see what’s out there before deciding to return to Detroit,” they wrote over the weekend.
It is one of many difficult dilemmas that Lions general manager Brad Holmes has faced in his young career.