Detroit Lions Front Office Refusing To Take Shortcuts to Prominence

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you sip your morning coffee, afternoon soda, or evening cocktail, treat yourself to a big slice of optimism.

These aren't the 2008 Detroit Lions.

Repeat that phrase over and over and over. Accept it. Learn it. Love it.

Yes, even the most pessimistic of fans have to accept that this year's version of the men in Honolulu Blue are better. One win is, mathematically speaking, infinitely better than zero.

However, looking at the blue print, one can see things are even better than just one win.

Rudi Johnson, Keary Colbert, Aveion Cason, Edwin Mulitalo, Chuck Darby, Brandon Middleton, Ryan Nece, Brian Kelly, Alex Lewis, Ikaika Alama-Francis, George Foster,  Michael Gaines—all players who played (or were expected to play) a big part on the 2008 Detroit Lions, now out of football.

Even more—Paris Lenon, Mike Furrey, Shaun McDonald, Travis Fisher—are currently buried on their respective team's depth charts after expecting huge roles in 2008.

Last year, on opening day, the Detroit Lions had an average age of 27.9 and eight players over the age of 30. In 2009, even after acquiring old-timers Grady Jackson and Ephaim Salaam and having 19 players in their 30's, the Lions have gotten younger with an average age of 27.62, making them the fifth youngest team in the NFL.

Many looked with disdain during the offseason at signing Jackson, Salaam, and other older players as "shortcuts." However, the reality is that short term fixes aren't part of the larger plan. The NFL doesn't let a team decline to field a football team—although, perhaps they should.

When looking at the Lions' roster, it is clear that very few people have solidified jobs.

Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson are the only "untouchables" on the roster. While players like Gosder Cherilus, Derrick Williams, DeAndre Levy and Louis Delmas are among the few who are young with NFL caliber talent.

The rest of the roster are just placeholders.

With over 50 percent roster turnover from 2008 to 2009, expect another big percentage for 2009 to 2010. This organization has set an interesting precedent never seen before in Detroit; acquire young talent through the draft, upgrade the bottom half of your roster through targeted free agency, take a chance on one or two trades; that is the blueprint the Lions have laid out.

But, it's not all roses and puppy dogs.

The Lions misfired on a trade sending perennial injured reserve player, Gerald Alexander, to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Dennis Northcutt. Yet, looking at it through the lens of the front office, its little more than an errant shot.

Neither player, Northcutt or Alexander, would have big roles on a championship contender. Both would be equally expendable to a team looking for more roster overhaul.

The Lions will not pass on acquiring a younger receiver candidate just because they have Northcutt. In the same way, the Lions not have passed on a better safety just because they had Gerald Alexander. For this front office, in year one, it is a non-move, made to field a team in 2009 with little look forward.

The 2008 Detroit Lions were the football equivalent of a dilapidated building—completely and utterly useless with no future. In 2009, the building is gone, demolished and the beginnings of a foundation have been started.

An experienced contractor doesn't care how long it takes to build a foundation. He doesn't care about the integrity of the make-shift huts quickly built around it to bide time before the structure is finished. Time is taken to do it right so it doesn't have to be done again.

The Lions have a foundation—22 players under the age of 25 (not counting practice squad). The question that remains to be answered is if the building materials on site can be upgraded and how.

Ask yourself this, is Kevin Smith too good to be upgraded? Is Ernie Sims? Jerome Felton?

The answer, resoundingly, is no on all counts.

This is the team who selected the best tight end in the 2009 NFL Draft, Brandon Pettigrew, over a fourth ranked offensive tackle, Michael Oher. The need at tackle was greater and the position is more important, but the Lions went with the best player at his position.

So if a better running back is available in an early round, or a better fullback in a later round, would it surprise anyone if Martin Mayhew pulls the trigger?

Drafting for need is how a team fills out their roster. If a playoff team misses on a need-based draft pick, they have a playoff team surrounding that player until he can be replaced. If a team drafts for pure need in the top half of the first round, that player handicaps the team for years to come.

So the Lions are ignoring calls to sign Chris McAllister to temporarily address their porous secondary or Dominic Rhodes to run the ball. 

That is a short cut.

The Lions are passing on attempts to trade valuable high draft picks for veteran cast offs. If the Lions make a trade in the next few hours, it will be a minor one or a Roy Williams like steal from a desperate soul. The Lions know that you don't make or break a franchise with a deadline deal.

That is a short cut.

As of the week seven bye, the Detroit Lions have one problem and one problem only—injuries. A large part of the foundation is temporarily unavailable.

Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson are hurt. Lesser pieces, Gosder Cherilus and Sammie Hill, are hurt. Even some of the more promising patchwork additions, Ko Simpson and Jason Hunter, are hurt.

The team that lost on Lambeau field is not the team the Lions plan to field in 2010. That team's loss is irrelevant for the long term plans of this franchise. Any knee jerk reaction to fix that team would be bad business.

That team being shut out, doesn't effect the team that the Lions desire. A team with Stafford and Johnson as the offensive cornerstones with a bevy of draft picks around them.

So yes, for all you negative nancies out there the collection of castoffs got beat, badly, against the Packers at Lambeau Field. However, it is telling that the Packers, an experienced franchise, took so little solace in beating the Lions.

A team like the Packers understands that the Lions are on their way up while their own offensive line—once their pride—is in shambles.

Players like Turk McBride, DeMarcus Faggins, Ko Simpson, Jason Hunter, Will Heller, Will James and Eric King weren't signed to be saviors. They were signed to hopefully find a diamond in the rough. If they still show signs of coal and a better player comes along, they will be replaced.

So, Lions fans, here's your optimism for the day.

The Lions are no longer one flashy player away from a championship as they pretended to be throughout the Millen era. The Lions are no longer building from the top up, adding veterans like Damien Woody, Edwin Mulitalo, or Dre Bly to big contracts to be cornerstones of a crumbling franchise. 

The Lions are building from the ground up and unwilling to take shortcuts.