ALLEN PARK – Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell are just hours away from their first foray into the free agency. Here’s everything you need to know about how it works, what Detroit Lions need, and what they can do.
How it works
There used to be so much illegal conversation between teams and agents – and all the unofficial channels that flow between the two – that the NFL added a negotiation window two days before the day of the signing. This window opens at noon today, but contracts cannot yet be officially signed until the new year of the league begins at 4pm on Wednesday. It is also when negotiations can become official, like the one Detroit created to send Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for a choice of the third round this year, a choice of the first round next year, a choice of the first round in 2022 and a defender Jared Goff.
How much teams can spend
The NFL generally prints money, and the impressive growth in the wage cap – which has been increasing every year except for the 2011 blocking season – reflects this. But even the NFL was not immune to the financial challenges of the pandemic. The league announced last week that the salary cap would be lowered to $ 182.5 million next season, a record drop of $ 15.7 million. When you consider that most teams invest an extra $ 10 million in their plans each year – the average growth since 2013 – clubs will have about $ 25 million less to spend than expected before the ambition starts. And so many teams – including Detroit – are in a tight financial situation.
Where are the Lions
They are under the limit now, but not much and it hasn’t been easy. They have already announced that they are cutting guys like cornerback Justin Coleman, tight end Jesse James and linebacker Christian Jones, and that does not include the reported cut of Desmond Trufant, which is not yet official. Detroit also restructured linebacker Jamie Collins’s contract. All in all, Lions have released about $ 19.8 million in maximum space for this season. It helps. But they are also in jail for $ 38.8 million in dead money, which is 21.2% of the new salary cap. This will make it difficult for Lions to be competitive at the highest levels of free agency, not that they always wanted to be competitive at the highest levels of free agency, as they move forward in the early days of a period of several years to rebuild.
Look for Lions to prioritize low to medium level free agents who have a track record with this team. They have already announced the first two signings, which fall under this strategy.
Additions
Receiver Tyrell Williams signed a one-year contract that includes a guaranteed base salary of $ 2 million and a signing bonus of $ 2 million. Your limit reached will be just $ 3 million because of a nullable year that was added to the end of the deal, which allows the subscription bonus to be extended for two seasons. The deal also includes incentives of up to $ 2.2 million. It’s a reasonable contract for a six-foot receiver who has been a big threat when healthy, but hasn’t played in the past year because of injuries. And Lions need serious help in that position with Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola – all three starters from the past two seasons – about to hit the open market. Williams played for two seasons under current Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn with the Chargers.
Tight end Josh Hill signed with the Lions last week. The terms have not yet been released. Hill is a blocking tight end who has spent the past five years playing under Dan Campbell in New Orleans, who was also a blocking tight end. This story has always made Hill a prime target for Detroit, since he was released from New Orleans, and the Lions pulled the trigger just a day after releasing Jesse James. Hill is a massive update on James as a blocker, and ranked fourth among all the tight end in the game running last year according to ProFootballFocus. The details of the contract have not been announced.
Who could they sign
Lions come from three consecutive last place finishes, just set the record for the allowable yardage in one season, allowed more points than any team other than the 1980 Baltimore Colts, and fired their general and technical manager for that. Clearly, their needs are considerable and numerous. The problem is that they also have limited financial resources to fix them because of the reduction limit and their own dead money situation after unloading some bad contracts. Drafting is always the best way to build in the NFL, but this is especially true for Lions, considering where they are organized and how much they have to spend.
This is a difficult situation to be in, with so many needs to be considered. We’ve spent the past eight days looking at each position, what Lions need in the future and who best fits them.
QB | WR | TE | RB | OL | DL | LB | DB
And if Lions were willing to splurge, we ranked the top 25 in the free agency ($). Just don’t get your hopes up.
Who they re-signed
Lions renewed with Mike Ford on a one-year contract that will pay him $ 1.2 million. Ford is a defensive defense and manages to corner in a difficult situation, but his real value lies in the special teams.
Who could they miss
Star receiver Kenny Golladay and best rusher pass Romeo Okwara top a list of 18 Lions players who can start talking to other teams today, and reach the unrestricted free agency on Wednesday. The others: WR Marvin Jones, WR Danny Amendola, PR / WR Jamal Agnew, WR Mohamed Sanu, RB Adrian Peterson, G Oday Aboushi, DE Everson Griffen, LB Jarrad Davis LB Reggie Ragland LB, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, CB Darryl Roberts, CB Tony McRae, S. Duron Harmon, S. Miles Killebrew, K. Matt Prater and LS Don Muhlbach. Yes, even Death and Taxes himself can start flirting with other teams today. We rank them well here ($).
How they fared before
Under the previous regime, not very good. We rate Jesse James as the worst signing of the Bob Quinn era, followed by Desmond Trufant, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Mike Daniels and Justin Coleman. Woof. But it wasn’t all bad, with guys like Marvin Jones, Trey Flowers and Devon Kennard among the best signings. We explain everything here.