Detroit Lions Weblog

Mini-Camps Over, the Quiet Time begins

For about a month, the NFL will be reasonably quiet. Until the June 1st salary cap cuts, there will be little player movement of note. After the mini-camps, there are a few more organized team activities but until the July pre-season camps the NFL will be relatively quiet.

In regards to the Lions, they may still be looking for additional help at TE, Free Safety, and Defensive End. That being said, the fact that they released Brock Marion and Az Hakim before June 1st means that the team is in reasonably good cap shape and may be content with the roster as is. I know that early reports indicate that the team was very excited with the performance of undrafted free agent Tight End Jason Randall. Steve Mariucci also spoke quite highly of Bill Swancutt. I would personally be excited if the Lions were able to add a reliable pass rusher and more secondary help. Yet, if the team’s development continues and they are relatively free of major injury, their roster has a much quality depth and talent as they have had in the last ten years.

Some other impressions of the minicamps came from Mike O’Hara on local sports talk 92.1/92.7 WQTX. O’Hara stated that Kevin Johnson looked great. He had the best hands and appears to be a good team player. He said that Jeff Garcia looked a little rusty and didn’t perform well in drills. O’Hara believes that Garcia is a better game day player than what he exhibited in camp. O’Hara also stated that Charles Rogers looked very tentative in camps and that it may take a while for him to reach the point where he will be effective.

One element of the off-season that will continue to emerge will be the constant monitoring of the performance of the Lion Quarterbacks. Any sort of signs who may be performing best will be reported in minutae. The Soap Opera around this situation will rival any in recent Lion history and will provide constant talk radio fodder. At this point, regardless of any Jeff Garcia declarations to the contrary, the team is Harrington’s and any highs or lows it will experience will be heavily reliant upon his performance. This is the most critical season of his career.