Lions Could Unlock Vault For Free Agents Post-Lockout
The Lions have thought throughout the past five-plus months that they would be ready to hit the ground running, regardless of when the lockout was lifted.
They felt like they had enough key elements in place, staff, scheme and roster, that they would not be hurt by a condensed free agency period, a tight salary cap or a shortened training camp.
"We are as ready as we can be for every contingency and we have been for a long time," Lions president Tom Lewand said during the NFL owners meetings. "Whatever the rules dictate and whatever they are, we will be ready to adjust."
As Lewand said at the time, the staff has been in place for three years, the core of the team is under contract and there are very few holes -- two most glaring being at cornerback and linebacker.
"We look at this more like a movie than a snap shot," Lewand said. "We have put ourselves in a position where there are not a lot of moving parts for us. There's not a lot of gaps and we have a lot of guys under contract. There are fewer things we have to prepare for and fewer contingencies we have to be ready for."
Coach Jim Schwartz, also back at the league meetings in New Orleans, said the team had done most of its homework on free agency back in January and February and had a good idea of the players they planned to target.
"We (didn't) know what the parameters were, but that doesn't stop the evaluation process," he said. "The evaluation of players is a 24-7, 365-day proposition."
And as general manager Martin Mayhew said, "We did our work in January and February. We didn't throw away our notes."
The first order of business will be to sign free agents already on the roster. Those they are expected to move quickly on include QB Drew Stanton, DE Turk McBride, PK Dave Rayner, OLB Bobby Carpenter, DT Andre Fluellen, OG-C Dylan Gandy, FB Jerome Felton, OT Corey Hilliard and special teams ace John Wendling.
Cornerback Chris Houston will be an unrestricted free agent and it's not clear what the Lions intend to do. Clearly, they intend on upgrading the cornerback and linebacker spots through free agency.
According to reports, they will be $16.6 million under the cap, before they re-sign any of their own free agents or rookies. They won't have enough money to sign an elite cornerback (somebody like Cincinnati's Johnathan Joseph) and an elite linebacker (somebody like Tennessee's Stephen Tulloch).
It will be one or the other. That's why Houston might still be in play for the Lions. If they spend big money on a linebacker, then they would probably try to bring back Houston, who won't command as much as Joseph.
There are also some high salaries on the payroll for 2011 that might be expendable -- most notably that of underachieving third wide receiver Bryant Johnson, who is on the books for $3.2 million.
The Lions will also have a decision to make on veteran kicker Jason Hanson and his $2.1 million salary. Hanson, 41, is coming off knee surgery for the second straight season. The Lions won't capriciously kick him to the curb, but he will need to prove that he still has the same leg strength, or else they will go with the younger and cheaper Rayner.
Another financial consideration on Mayhew's plate is DE Cliff Avril. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and most likely, Mayhew will try to sign him to an extension during the season to avoid that.
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