Detroit Lions Weblog

Amid Off-Season Hibernation, Ex-Lions Scramble To Find Work

With the OTA’s, various minicamps, and training camps all on the horizon, and with the draft and free agency completed, the next month or two are among the quieter periods of the NFL off-season.

With that in mind, I find it interesting that a number of (mostly) failed ex-Lions are in the league news, albeit because they are all scrambling for jobs.

Charles Rogers, Mike Williams, Kevin Jones and J.T. O’Sullivan have all been mentioned as among potential roster chum to subside the voracious appetites of football front offices in the search for quick, cheap solutions to their personnel issues.

Rogers has been mentioned as someone who could possibly land in the CFL. The Lions are still knee deep in the glacial legal processes that will mediate their attempt to recover money from C-Rog, whom they believe was in breach of his contract when he was suspended for his participation in the league’s drug program.

Mike Williams, who I regard as the biggest draft bust in Matt Millen’s horrific tenure as team president, is clutching to the last withering tendrils of what was once regarded as a promising NFL career. Williams appears to finally have matured to the point where he is beginning to see his failure in not choosing to commit fully to his once burgeoning career.

Kevin Jones has recently visited with the Patriots, and there is no player I’d rather see be given the opportunity to win than Jones. I still believe that the Lions have made a mistake in their judgment in regards to Jones, and even in a limited role, I believe that Jones has some potential left to contribute.

O’Sullivan, the Lions journeymen backup last season, and clearly a Mike Martz lackey, has been mentioned a possible starter in San Francisco next season. Given O’Sullivan’s brief performance in Detroit, I feel sorry for the Niners, if he is the best that their roster has to offer at that position.

Ultimately, none of these players will likely amount to significant additions to any team. Their collectively poor performance as professional athletes will likely bear out, their upside has ground to dust.

That being said, other than an upcoming “NFL Greatest Games” Dvd due for release in August, their is little other sustenance to be found for the devoted Lions fan, at least for the time being.