Detroit Lions Weblog

Lions Re-Sign LB Alex Lewis, Hall and Pollard Will be Gone By Hook or By Crook Today, MLive Analysis of Bly Trade

The Lions signed LB Alex Lewis to a three year contract extension yesterday and effectively took him off of the free agent market, as a restricted free agent.   Lewis, who has shown some upside, will battle for the starting strongside linebacker job with Boss “Champ’s Bro” Bailey.  Lewis fits quite well into the Lions future plans of developing a Cover-2 defensive scheme with his speed and athleticism.  The Lions also have tendered two more restricted free agents: CB Keith Smith and LS Don Muhlbach.   If either player signs an offer sheet from another organization the Lions will have the opportunity to match the offer or receive compensation for the loss of these two players.

Smith, like LB Lewis, showed some promise as a rookie, but failed to make much of an impression with his performance during his second season (last year).  At the very least, Smith is a strong nickel candidate and will be in the mix for a starting CB job with Stanley Wilson, Jr.   Muhlbach has done a capable job as long-snapper and the Lions, like most franchises, did not relish the idea of having to search for another dependable long snapper.

James Hall and Marcus Pollard will both be released today, if the Lions are unable to trade them.   Both players are due roster bonuses, which the Lions are not willing to pay.   Hall, who was once considered a steal for the organization, does not see eye-to-eye with Coach Marinelli and was involved with the filing of a grievance with the league office over the Lions not following a practice policy.   Pollard was not of much use in Mike Martz’s offense and was never as effective in Detroit as the Lions had hoped for.  Reportedly, a couple of teams have interest in Hall, but why would anyone be willing to give the Lions anything of value for him when it is public knowledge he wil be had as a free agent in a matter of hours?

MLive.com’s Tom Kowalski  has an excellent breakdown of why the Dre Bly trade was such a success for the Lions.   The team has added more salary cap room by acquiring RB Tatum Bell and OT George Foster from the Broncos, who will cost much less combined than what Bly would have cost the Lions in ‘07.  Furthermore, if the Lions retain both players, they remove two positions of need from their laundry list of needs for the free agency signing period that began today.  The importance of that move is that in a relatively weak free agent market, where teams have a lot more money spend due to a significant increase in the league’s salary cap, many free agents will receive an inordinately high amount of money, since teams have more to spend.  The Lions, through their recent trade, will not have to overpay for at least two players, in their process of attempting to address their many roster needs.

The Lions have also exponentially increased their leverage for moving in the draft and potentially acquiring more draft picks/players.   The Lions are no longer locks to draft either Wisconsin OT Joe Thomas or Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson, since they have acquired both Bell and Foster, and teams who want these players may want to jump into the Lions draft slot in order to be able to select one of them.   With the Lions maintaining a serious interest in drafting a pass rushing DE and MLB, two positions that are not abundant in free agency, the team can begin to consider drafting players like DE’s Gaines Adams, Jamaal Anderson and MLB Patrick Willis.  The biggest downside to the Bly trade is that a position that was once considered a strong point for the team, one of the most important in the game of football, now has some serious need to be addressed.