Today the Detroit Lions finished their 2021 season with a win against the Green Bay Packers 37-30 for a 3-13-1 record. Today also is my first blog post since the end of the 2020 NFL draft. What with the pandemic and numerous other issues that I shall not go into, this was the first chance I really had to create an entry.
Instead of trying to catch up with the 2020 season, the 2021 draft, the coaching change last year, and all the roster moves since, I'll pick up where they are at as the 2022 off season officially begins, which is tomorrow. First note, the offensive coordinator hired a year ago has been fired today. Head Coach Dan Campbell has been calling the plays since mid-season 2021, so it remains to be seen if they will search for a new OC or promote from within or have Campbell wear two hats in 2022.
The Lions have a small amount of salary cap space to carry over into the 2022 season, so with the current contracts in place for 2022 they should have roughly $35 to $40 million to work with as they begin the year if my numbers are correct. The Lions do have some dead cap for 2022 already, mostly from the LB Collins cut plus a couple others cut after June 1st. So $8,165,786 is set to be dead cap space in 2022 before they even get started working on the roster. There are also only 37 players under contract for 2022 at this point in time. One player at risk of being let go due to cap reasons is Flowers, who they might not view as being worth a $16 million salary, but cutting him creats more dead cap space, yet saves about $10.3 million in cap space for 2022.
There are a large number of unrestricted free agents they may or may not re-sign, along with restricted free agents they may or may not tender an offer to, and even a number of eRFA's that will either agree to the league minimum contract the Lions might offer them or sit home, as eRFA's don't have enough years in the league to negotiate contracts with other teams, like at all.
Player Pos. Type Snaps Age
Tim Boyle QB UFA 17.2% 28
Jalen Reeves-Maybin LB UFA 51.1%
Nicholas Williams IDL UFA 54.8%
Josh Reynolds WR UFA 39.9% 27
Alex Anzalone LB UFA 77.2% 28
Charles Harris EDGE UFA 75.4% 27
Kalif Raymond WR UFA 67.1% 28
KhaDarel Hodge WR UFA 22.8% 27
Dean Marlowe S UFA 59.3% 30
Tracy Walker S UFA 76.0% 27
Tyrell Crosby RT UFA 0.0% 27
Shaun Dion Hamilton LB UFA 0.0% 27
Joel Heath IDL UFA 0.0% 29
Evan Brown C RFA 71.9% 26
Jason Cabinda LB RFA 0.0% 26
Will Holden LT RFA 3.8% 29
David Blough QB RFA 0.4% 27
C.J. Moore S RFA 13.6% 27
Josh Woods LB RFA 10.5% 26
Godwin Igwebuike S eRFA 0.0% 28
Jack Fox P eRFA 35.6% 26
Matt Nelson RT eRFA 59.1% 27
Jessie Lemonier EDGE eRFA 12.4% 25
Bobby Price S eRFA 14.1% 24
Jalen Elliott S eRFA 8.6% 24
Scott Daly LS eRFA 29.1% 28
Tom Kennedy WR eRFA 12.8% 26
Rashod Berry TE eRFA 0.0% 26
Mark Gilbert CB eRFA 4.4% 25
Riley Patterson K eRFA 6.3%
Tommy Kraemer LG eRFA 20.5% 24
Brock Wright TE eRFA 24.8% 24
Ryan McCollum C eRFA 6.7% 24
Anthony Pittman LB eRFA 6.9% 26
Shane Zylstra TE SFA? 7.9% 26
Rodney Smith RB SFA? 3.4% 26
The Lions also have draft capital, their 3-13-1 record nets them 2nd overall picks in the rounds they still have picks in. Plus an extra 1st round pick for the Stafford trade. Plus comp picks and other moves they have made. The final spots won't be determined until the Rams exit the playoffs, so we'll save that for a future post.
It's too early yet to determine who will get a chance to make the Lions roster in 2022, but a number of years ago an NFL writer ranked the importance of each position on a team. Though running the 3-4 defense makes some of it harder to interpret. The article can be found at https://www.nfl.com/news/ranking-each-position-s-importance-from-quarterback-to-returner-0ap3000000503855
I think if you go through the list in that article, you'd likely agree the Lions are in need of a Safety, a couple of Linebackers, a Wide Receiver, and an Edge rusher to start with (not in this order). There are other positions that could maybe use competition or an upgrade, but those first 5 stand out as must upgrades to me. I was going to go through each and every one, and still might, but for now I'll just leave you with the link as this post is getting rather long as it is.
More to come later. Thank you for reading my State of the Lions report.
