Detroit Lions Weblog

Lions Extraordinarily Busy During First Day of Free Agency

The Lions were very aggressive within the first 24 hours of NFL free agency. The Lions signed veteran DE Kyle Vanden Bosch, who previously thrived within Jim Schwartz’s defense with the Titans, signed WR Nate Burleson, re-signed veteran OT Jon Jansen, and traded for former Packers stalwart DT, but a substantially more disappointing player while playing within a Browns 3-4 defense, Corey Williams.

All of this comes after several days of rumors suggesting that the Lions were going to deal for embattled, talented-but-disappointing Chargers DB Antonio Cromartie, who was eventually traded to the Jets. The Lions did release veterans CB Phillip Buchanon and DT Grady Jackson, which with the acquisition of Williams, made Jackson extraneous.

Restauranteurs Throughout the Detroit Area Are Flying Their Flags at Half-Mast Today, After the Lions Released the Svelte Jackson

The Lions secondary is in dire shape, at this point. William James is a free agent, and with the decision to jettison Buchanon, and after losing out on dealing for Cromartie, the Lions will have to devote some significant attention to the team’s debatably weakest personnel group, as the draft rapidly approaches.

Corey Williams Hopes to Flourish With the Lions

Corey Williams and Kyle Vanden Bosch provide the Lions with a veteran presence along their defensive front, which mixed with the youth of players like Cliff Avril (Kalimba Part Deux?), Sammie Lee Hill, and Jason Hunter, and considering the potential future draft selection of either Gerald McCoy or Ndamukong Suh, makes the Lions front seven substantially improved.

Lions Head Coach Schwartz Aggressively Recruited Vanden Bosch, Entering Free Agency

There is some thought that the Lions may have set themselves up to go in a different direction than defensive tackle at pick #2, or opened up the opportunity to consider trading down and acquiring additional draft picks, after the trade for Williams (at the bargain basement price of the 2010 fifth rounder that they received from the Broncos last year, and receiving the Browns 2010 seventh round pick in addition to Williams).

In my opinion, it is clear that the Lions have considerably opened up their available options entering the draft (they likely aren’t finished, either) but I am also of the mind that the Lions should not stray from continuing to bolster the front seven of their defense, especially considering just how weak their secondary still appears to be, which can not be entirely “fixed” in the remaining off-season.

Burleson Will Not Wear Jersey #81 in Detroit

The most polarizing decision that the Lions made was to overpay for Nate Burleson, in an attempt to provide franchise WR Calvin Johnson with a companion who alleviates some of the attention that opponents direct towards Johnson on game day.

Personally, I like the signing of Burleson. He has good hands, has been a much more proven, reliable receiver than last season’s addition of Bryant “Don’t Call Me Criminally Underwhelming” Johnson, who was a miserable performer last season. Add the fact that Burleson is intimately familiar with Scott Linehan’s offense from his days with the Vikings, and the Lions may actually have something positive brewing.

Statistics—–Rec Yards Y/R TD Long R/G Y/G
Nate Burleson 63 812 12.9 3 44 4.8 62.5
‘09

Nate Burleson 263 3547 13.5 27 68 2.9 39.4
9 yr. Career

Bryant Johnson 35 417 11.9 3 36 2.3 27.8
‘09

Bryant Johnson 210 2675 12.7 9 58 2.7 34.7
7 yr. career

The Lions still have a lot of work to do. They need help along their offensive line, desperately need a gamebreaking, feature running back, a veteran backup QB and in case I didn’t make it clear enough, THE LIONS SECONDARY DESPERATELY AND UNEQUIVOCALLY NEEDS TO BE UPGRADED!

Martin Mayhew, Giving Thought to Adding Additional Help in the Lions Secondary?