Detroit Lions Weblog

Training Camp Begins (Yeah!), Will James Signed, Kevin Carter Soon?

The beginning of training camp for the Detroit Lions, even amid an exciting Detroit Tigers pennant chase (or at least until their imminent end of season meltdown), is an exciting and portentous occasion for any Michigan professional football fan. As the Lions enter camp, coming off of a monumentally disastrous 0-16 season, hope springs eternal and the team embarks anew upon it’s seemingly interminable rebuilding process.

The Lions front office has been incredibly busy. Aside from a raft of high draft picks (Matthew Stafford, Louis Delmas, Brandon Pettigrew, etc.), free agent signings, and an improbably high number of off-season trades, the team will take on a very new (hopefully, fresh!) look as the season rapidly approaches. As the media throng swells around nascent franchise savior QB Matthew Stafford, the real story of Lions camp will actually be told by the performance of several less glamorous players.

If the Lions are going to make any sort of legitimate organizational headway, their future success will be predicated upon the contributions of their new additions along the offensive and defensive fronts, who will help put into place the cornerstones of a true, cogent rebuilding process. The performance/continued improvement of players like Gosder Cherilus, Stephen Peterman, Cliff Avril, Andre Fluellen, Ikaika Alama-Francis, and Sammie Hill, along with the “if-needed” steady contributions of players like Jon Jansen, Ephraim Salaam, and Orien Harris, coupled with the expected upgrades provided by off-season additions like Daniel Loper and Grady Jackson, will significantly aid the organizations first teetering steps towards it’s much sought after NFL viability.

In other words, in order for potentially exciting players like Matthew Stafford, Kevin Smith, Brandon Pettigrew, Calvin Johnson and Louis Delmas to ultimately succeed, and not fail miserably like so many of their organizational predecessors, the Lions off-season additions throughout their roster will have to solidify the team’s personnel where their more-often-than-not formless and fetid predecessors have failed. In order to change the circumstances which have so often dogged the organization through the years and caused them to operate from out of a noticeable deficit during recent seasons, they need solid, steady contributions from the players who will not receive the adoring attention of the media and fans.

I will give the Lions front office some measure of credit, they have worked very hard to re-shape and re-organize the team’s roster as a new staff with a new offensive and defensive philosophy works towards establishing a new look for the franchise.
Just this week, the Lions added veteran CB Will James (nee Peterson) who although, not likely to emerge as a Pro Bowler, will continue the team’s process of slowly upgrading the roster and generating competition for playing time where more often than not players earned on-field time by default. James’ signing sends a message loud and clear to players like Keith Smith and Ramzee Robinson that their careers (at least in Detroit) hang tenuously in the balance.

The Lions are still very interested in DE/DT Kevin Carter, especially after the recent signing of veteran DT Hollis Thomas elsewhere. According to MLive.com’s “Killer” Kowalski, the two sides are having some financial disagreements about Carter’s actual worth. Carter would certainly be a valuable contributor but would not significantly alter the course of the team’s season, either. In the meantime, expect Mayhew to diligently scour the waiver wire and to consider among what few remaining free agents of value left can provide the team as the season approaches.