The Detroit Lions may not have made a ton of splashy free agency moves, but one ESPN writer believes they’ve been savvy with their spendings.
The Detroit Lions haven’t made a ton of free agency “winners” lists this offseason, because of their modest spendings. They have only signed seven external free agents this offseason—only one of whom got a deal longer than a single year or averaged over $4 million a season. Those “winners” are typically awarded to the bigger spenders.
However, Benjamin Solak at ESPN ranked each team’s offseason, and did it in a much different way than most analysts. Here’s how he determined the best and worst free agencies thus far:
“I didn’t want to just rank their incoming free agent classes, because that would simply be a ranking of which teams spent the most money,” Solak wrote. “I tried to consider everything: Not just free agent acquisitions and departures, but trades and extensions and restructures. I knocked teams that signed great players but probably overspent or had poor priorities; I rewarded teams that spent little, but did so wisely and attacked the right positions. What could have been was also considered: The Browns don’t get points for signing Myles Garrett to the same contract everyone would have, when they’re the only team that could have gotten picks by giving that contract to someone else.”
By those standards, Solak believes the Lions had the fourth-best offseason so far, with only the Bills, Rams, and Vikings ranking ahead of them.
In particular, Solak liked Detroit’s strategy of basically running it back with a high percentage of last year’s squad via a load of re-signings this offseason.
“They kept Barnes on a cheap deal relative to other linebackers; Onwuzurike, an ascending pass-rushing defensive tackle who had to moonlight as a defensive end last season; and Davenport, who is a good scheme fit but missed almost the entire season with injury. Offensive tackle Dan Skipper is back, too! And wideout Tim Patrick! Sometimes, Super Bowl contenders unnecessary shuffle the deck. The Lions were wise to keep the band together and continue trusting in their process.”
Solak did provide one criticism of the Lions’ offseason, but it’s a relatively minor one. He believes the signing of quarterback Kyle Allen is a sign Detroit’s backup quarterback situation with Hendon Hooker is not going as planned. While I personally disagree based on the extremely small deal Allen got, I will admit the optics of the situation don’t look great for Hooker.
“There’s nothing wrong with the signing — everyone loves a veteran quarterback at QB2,” Solak wrote. “But the Lions are making it clear they do not trust Hendon Hooker. They replaced him at QB2 with Teddy Bridgewater last season once Bridgewater was done coaching his way to a high school championship, and Hooker will now battle with Allen for the same job. At this point, I’d be surprised if the 2023 third-round pick becomes a reliable backup anywhere.”
You can see all of Solak’s rankings here. Of note, the high-spending Bears were just 15th on the rankings, while the Packers were 23rd.
