Draft Day is finally here, and with the first couple of waves of Free Agency in the books, lets take a look at what needs the Lions still have entering the draft: Needs: WR, LB, Edge/DL, S, OL, CB WR: Its a forgone conclusion that the Lions will draft not only one, but maybe two or three WRs in this year’s draft. After signing speedy Tyrell Williams, former 1st Rd pick Breshad Perriman and Damion Ratley to go with holdovers Quintez Cephus and Geronio Allison, the Lions still have a long-term need to restock the position. Fortunately, the position is particularly deep with pretty much every size, shape, speed and quality of player you could want in all the rounds. The Lions should be tempted by Ja’marr Chase in Rd 1 if he is there, but choosing between Alabama receivers Waddle and Smith at 7 over an OL, QB of the future or trading back will be a tough choice. LB: With the addition of Alex Anzalone and re-signing of Jaylen Reeve-Maybin, it lessoned the need a bit to go all in on a LB in the draft. The supposed crown jewel is Micah Parsons of Penn St, but the kid has so many red flags that the Lions shouldn’t take him at #7, yet he will likely not be there at #41 in Rd 2. So the Lions could grab one of the next lien of guys in Baron Browning, Jabril Cox or Jamin Davis. Bottom line, the Lions need more speed at LB and there are quite a few options to choose from. Edge/DL: This draft is literally the worst DL draft on paper in the last 10 years. The edge’s outside of Kwity Paye have major warts until you get down into late 2nd early 3rd and the DTs only have 102 guys that are MAYBE second rounders in Barmore and Onwuzurike. Lots of depth-type and promise, but there really is not a sure thing in this draft. Lions will likely grab an Edge or DT at some point for depth, but don’t count on them being a major contributor right away. S: yes, the lions lack Safety depth and likely one starter. Tracy Walker hopefully rebounds after being misused by the last staff and Will Harris starts to show the promise that mad him a 3rd round pick (unlikely). The Lions also have Bobby Price, Jalen Elliott, CJ Moore and Dean Marlow, but that’s not exactly a group that inspires confidence. I expect the lions to look at Safety in Rds 3 and 4, especially if one of the guys like Moehrig, Grant or Holland slips. OL: The Lions did next to nothing with OL in Free Agency outside of picking up Frank Ragnow’s fifth-year option yesterday. That leaves a fairly strong unit intact, but with some questions on the right side. Vaitai seems destined to be cut had it not been for the ridiculous contract that the last regime saddled Holmes with, but I don’t expect him to be here in 2022 unless his play picks up significantly after playing injured most of last year. RT is Crosby and Matt Nelson’s to fight over, which is fine, but not ideal. That is why at #7 don’t be surprised to see the lions jump on Sewell or Slater to ensure that the OL is solid for the next 4-5 years. CB: Last year the lions drafted Okudah at #3 and had both Trufant and Coleman under massive FA contracts to go along with Oruwariye and the thinking is that they were set for the next 2-3 years with developmental guys in the pipeline. Unfortunately, injuries killed that though and the CBs were and absolute disaster outside of Oruwariye and occasional flash from Okudah before he was shut down. Coleman and Trufant are gone, and Lions brought in Corn Elder and Quinton Dunbar as veterans, but there is still a need for depth and more development guys. I doubt the Lions go CB in Rd 1 barring a trade back, so that leaves Rds 2-5 to pick one up, and there is some decent depth to choose from. While at least four CBs should go in Rd 1 (Surtain, Horn, Newsome and Samuel) there is the injury marred Farley, the two Georgia kids in Stokes and Campbell and Syracuse’s super-sized kid Melifonu that should be available in Rds 2-3. One name to keep an eye on, Shaun Wade of Ohio State. He didn’t have a great year while playing injured, but the potential is there to be as good if not better than prior tOSU CBs. Lastly, depending on curve balls, the Lions could end up with a QB of the future (Fields/Lance in Rd1 or development guy in Rd 5 like Kellen Mond, David Mills or Peyton Ramsey) or even a hybrid TE in Pitts in Rd 1 if the picks fall the right way.

The Detroit Lions went into the offseason knowing they would be changing their front office, coaching staff, and then discovered their star quarterback desired a trade. The Grey Manes completed an analysis examining the reported offers out there believe the Lions made the best pick in trading Matthew Stafford to the LA Rams. Besides the obvious, not having to immediately draft a young quarterback to fill a gap left by the departure of the long-tenured signal caller, the choice to take two future seems to be the best option. Jared Goff is a quality NFL quarterback. Whether he is Detroit's long-term solution will work itself out. Lions new head coach Dan Campbell indicated the Detroit Lions intend to be physical, meaning a run heavy offense. Therefore, Goff has proven he can have success with a strong running game given he was the Rams starting QB in the Super Bowl (edited) Despite an immediate potential opportunity to have the 7th and 8th selection in the first round in selecting Carolina as their trading partner, that option seems to have increased risk in this year’s draft that other seasons may not have presented. Other issues to consider with Panthers Deal: (edited) · Both picks become FAs in same year · Lions need and BPA likely align with only WR, with QB, CB and TE not necessarily viable based on youngsters on roster unless clear upgrade. · Many Top 12 kids opted out, didn't play full season or have perceived warts. · Value in top 10 is at QB and WR, with WR likely filled at #7 and QB a maybe. · Edge, LB and WR are Lions biggest needs, with only WR now viable at 7 (Parsons opt out and the Sexual Assault issue) · Scouting issues abound with this class due to COVID · No Combine, tape study is imperative, and Lions scouting department is not fully staffed and will need to not only be integrated wth holdovers, but all get on same page with direction that Coaching Staff has for needs of team once they set the systems for Offense and Defense. Not something you want to rush through just because you need to identify two players to take in top 10. · Salary Cap constraints would mean another Top 10 pick would cause another veteran cut. · Easier to use low 1st rounder as trade collateral than high 1st rounder to provide ultimate flexibility. This Article was written by Dan Keener with input from Brent and Mike

Cut day is never a good day in the NFL, not for anyone, Players, Coaches, Front Offices, or fans. The Fans follow the teams all year round and a lot of fans even invest a whole weekend into the NFL draft, and some get attached to the drafted players for one reason or another. So Cut Day is a hard day all the way around. Here are the players the Lions cut on September 7th to get down to the 53-player active roster: • David Blough, QB • Jason Huntley, RB • Jonathan Williams, RB • Wes Hills, RB • Matt Sokol, TE • Isaac Nauta, TE • Victor Bolden, WR • Tom Kennedy, WR • Chris Lacy, WR • Geremy Davis, WR • Oday Aboushi, OL • Beau Benzschawel, OL • Kenny Wiggins, OL • Dan Skipper, OL • Will Clarke, DE • Kevin Wilkins, DT • Frank Herron, DT • Olive Sagapolu, DT • Albert Huggins, DL • Frank Herron, DL • Kevin Strong, DT • Anthony Pittman, LB • Dee Virgin, CB • Jalen Elliott, S • Bobby Price • Arryn Siposs, P • Steve Wirtel, LS ———————————- • Jayron Kearse. S (Reserve/Suspended) • Austin Bryant, DE (Reserve/PUP Next post will detail the Practice Squad, I would expect to see a lot of these same names again.

On Labor Day the Detroit Lions made it official, they have signed the recently released RB Adrian Peterson for the league minimum for a Vet with at least 7 years’ service - $1.05 Million dollars plus incentives. Last year Peterson played for the Washington Football Team and ran for 898 yards and 5 touchdowns. This seems like a very low risk, potentially high reward signing. Peterson could be effective in certain situations and he can also help the very young RB room in Allen Park. To make room for AD, the Lions moved RB Bo Scarborough to the Injured reserve. Under the adjusted rules for 2020, Scarborough can return in 3 weeks. That makes the Active RB roster: Peterson ,Kerryon Johnson, Deandre Swift, Ty Johnson, and Jason Cabinda.

The Detroit Lions and OT Taylor Decker have agreed to a contract extension per Ian Rapport. Details below Looks like a good deal for both sides. Decker will be the 8th highest paid OT per Over the Cap with this new contract.

Early in the off season it was announced that Jamal Agnew (CB/KR) was going to move over to the other side of the ball and play WR. There is no question when he has the ball in his hands that he is electric. He has playmaking ability no doubt. But as we have seen several times in the NFL it is more than catching a ball and running with it. It takes time to get the nuances of running routes, blocking schemes and a bevy of other items that will determine if you make an NFL roster or not. The Lions have a fairly decent WR corps, I would even say it may be the strongest unit of the team with Marvin Jones Jr, Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola as the top 3. It looks like Quintez Cepeheus the 5th round draft pick this year has a spot locked up AND it appears Jamal Agnew is looking at the #5 WR spot. This would be a very nice accomplishment in just 1 off-season . If he makes the team and is as productive as a 5th WR can be, I will give credit to the coaching staff and the front office for recognizing his potential at WR. This may explain the other 5th round pick of Jason Huntley a little better. The Rookie might see some time as a KR/PR this year allowing Agnew to focus on WR.

Earlier today, news broke that the Lions had agreed to terms (and subsequently signed) 1st Round Draft pick Jeff Okudah out of The Ohio State University. However, they were apparently a bit busier than that, as the Detroit Lions official twitter account just announced that not only Okudah had signed, but so also has WR Quintez Cephus and RB Jason Huntley, in addition to 2nd Rd pick D'Andre Swift (which was announced he had come to terms last week.) With the announcements that Cephus and Huntley have signed, that leaves only 7th Rd DT Jashon Cornell as the last member of the Lions 2020 class to yet agree to terms. Status of each Lions draft pick below: Rd 1: Jeff Okudah CB Status: 4-Year $33.529M Contract with $21.944M Signing Bonus; 5th-Year Team Option Rd 2: D' Andre Swift RB Status: 4-Year undisclosed deal Rd 3a: Julian Okwara DE Status: 4-Year $4.927M Contract with $1.143M Signing Bonus Rd 3b: Jonah Jackson OG Status: 4-Year $4.797M Contract with $1.049M Signing Bonus Rd 4: Logan Stenberg OG Status: 4-Year, $4.037M Contract with $742K Signing Bonus Rd 5a: Quintez Cephus WR Status: Signed to undisclosed Deal Rd 5b: Jason Huntley RB Status: Signed to Undisclosed Deal Rd 6: John Penisini DT Status: 4-year $3.467M deal with $171K signing bonus Rd 7: Jashon Cornell DT Status: Unsigned

Looks like the Lions are one step closer to getting all of their draft picks under contract. Ian Rapport posted to twitter this morning that the Lions had agreed to a standard rookie 4-year deal with CB Jeff Okduah, who the selected #3 overall in the 2020 NFLK Draft. The deal will have 5-th year club option, and we will have the details posted once Spotrac has it up. EDIT: The numbers are in per Spotrac, and Okudah did pretty well for himself. Status of each Lions draft pick below: Rd 1: Jeff Okudah CB Status: 4-Year $33.529M Contract with $21.944M Signing Bonus; 5th-Year Team Option Rd 2: D' Andre Swift RB Status: 4-Year undisclosed deal Rd 3a: Julian Okwara DE Status: 4-Year $4.927M Contract with $1.143M Signing Bonus Rd 3b: Jonah Jackson OG Status: 4-Year $4.797M Contract with $1.049M Signing Bonus Rd 4: Logan Stenberg OG Status: 4-Year, $4.037M Contract with $742K Signing Bonus Rd 5a: Quintez Cephus WR Status: Unsigned Rd 5b: Jason Huntley RB Status: Unsigned Rd 6: John Penisini DT Status: 4-year $3.467M deal with $171K signing bonus Rd 7: Jashon Cornell DT Status: Unsigned

Per the his personal twitter page, Detroit lions rookie RB D'Andre Swift announced that he has signed his contract with the club as of yesterday. The 2nd rounder out of Georgia is expected to share the backfield duties with fellow SEC alum Kerryon Johnson. I will update with the correct amounts once they are posted to Spotrac. As mentioned, Jackson follows Okwara, DT John Penisini and Logan Stenberg who signed back in May. Status of each Lions draft pick below: Rd 1: Jeff Okudah CB Status: Unsigned Rd 2: D' Andre Swift RB Status: 4-Year undisclosed deal Rd 3a: Julian Okwara DE Status: 4-Year $4.927M Contract with $1.143M Signing Bonus Rd 3b: Jonah Jackson OG Status: 4-Year $4.797M Contract with $1.049M Signing Bonus Rd 4: Logan Stenberg OG Status: 4-Year, $4.037M Contract with $742K Signing Bonus Rd 5a: Quintez Cephus WR Status: Unsigned Rd 5b: Jason Huntley RB Status: Unsigned Rd 6: John Penisini DT Status: 4-year $3.467M deal with $171K signing bonus Rd 7: Jashon Cornell DT Status: Unsigned

Per the Detroit lions official twitter feed, they announced today the signing of 3rd Round Draft Pick Jonah Jackson. The second pick of the 3rd Round (DE Julian Okwara signed a couple weeks ago), the big Guard from Ohio State is expected to immediately step into the competition with veterans Joe Dahl, Kenny Wiggins, Beau Benzschawel and fellow rookie Logan Stenberg to be one of the two starting Guards for the Lions this fall.. Numbers were not posted yet, but it is believed that the deal will be very similar to Okwara, who went 8 selections earlier in the round. Once Spotrac has them loaded, I will update with the correct amounts. [EDIT] The numbers are now available, and Jackson was signed to a 4 -year, $4,796,768 deal with a signing bonus of $1,048,560. As mentioned, Jackson follows Okwara, DT John Penisini and Logan Stenberg who signed back in May. Status of each Lions draft pick below: Rd 1: Jeff Okudah CB Status: Unsigned Rd 2: D' Andre Swift RB Status: Unsigned Rd 3a: Julian Okwara DE Status: 4-Year $4.927M Contract with $1.143M Signing Bonus Rd 3b: Jonah Jackson OG Status: Year $4.797M Contract with $1.049M Signing Bonus Rd 4: Logan Stenberg OG Status: 4-Year, $4.037M Contract with $742K Signing Bonus Rd 5a: Quintez Cephus WR Status: Unsigned Rd 5b: Jason Huntley RB Status: Unsigned Rd 6: John Penisini DT Status: 4-year $3.467M deal with $171K signing bonus Rd 7: Jashon Cornell DT Status: Unsigned

Per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Lions were able to get another draft pick under contract earlier today. Third round selection, DE Julian Okwara of Notre Dame, was signed to a 4 -year, $4,926,810 year deal with a signing bonus of $1,143,136 per Spotrac. Okwara is being counting on to add some teeth to the Lions pass rush, which struggled last year to generate pressure, let alone sacks and disruptive plays. Okwara follows DT John Penisini and Logan Stenberg who signed back in May. Status of each Lions draft pick below: Rd 1: Jeff Okudah CB Status: Unsigned Rd 2: D' Andre Swift RB Status: Unsigned Rd 3a: Julian Okwara DE Status: 4-Year $4.927M Contract with $1.143 Signing Bonus Rd 3b: Jonah Jackson OG Status: Unsigned Rd 4: Logan Stenberg OG Status: 4-Year, $4.037M Contract with $742K Signing Bonus Rd 5a: Quintez Cephus WR Status: Unsigned Rd 5b: Jason Huntley RB Status: Unsigned Rd 6: John Penisini DT Status: 4-year $3.467M deal with $171K signing bonus Rd 7: Jashon Cornell DT Status: Unsigned

Well that was fun while it lasted. Last week I speculated on a number of sites that the Detroit Lions might be able to use as an alternate training camp site if the State of Michigan was not reopened in time. A couple things happened in the last couple of days hat have changed that completely. First, Gov Whitmer rescinded her orders and allowed all indoor sports facilities to reopen yesterday with the state moving into Phase 4 of the MI Safe Start Plan. Secondly, the NFL sent an Memo to all teams today stating that they were unable to have joint practices this year and that it is requiring that all training camps be held at their team facilities instead of on the road. This normally wouldn't have been a big impact to the Lions, who last went on the road for training camp back in 2001 to Saginaw Valley State. However, between Whitmer's now rescinded order and a supposed offer from the Greenbrier, there was thought that the Lions may be on the move this year. Now that the NFL has outlined their expectations and Michigan is mostly open again, the expected mid-July opening of Lions training camp, and all of the mini-camps between now and then, will take place in Allen Park.