Detroit Lions: How Has the NFL Lockout Really Affected Them?

I know it doesn't seem possible, but the NFL lockout seems to be nearing its conclusion. Despite numerous reports and speculations to the contrary, it now appears as though there will be an NFL season, and with a minimal loss of football.

So as the two sides attempt to put the finishing touches on without blowing everything up again, it may be time to survey the damage.

We won't know the extent of the damage done to the fanbase until we start seeing attendance numbers, but we can rest assured that the damage is nowhere near as severe as it would be with a loss of regular season football.

Some fans will be bitter about the absurdity of billionaires quibbling with millionaires about how to split billions of dollars, but just as many will tune in Week 1 not knowing football ever left.

As for the rest of us, the fans who have been anxious for news, having accepted that labor struggles are an inevitable part of today's sports business, there is one big question: How does the lockout affect my team? How can they use this to their advantage?

For the Detroit Lions, the answers to these questions are as encouraging as they are uncertain.

For certain, there are a number of things the Lions can take from the lockout as positives, if only because the Lions have taken less damage than some other teams.

Much of that revolves around coaching continuity, which the Lions seem to have found at just the right time. And it's true that the Lions will benefit from having an established coaching staff entering its third year, but there's another element that isn't being talked about nearly as much as it should.

For all the talk about coaching continuity, very few are talking about how the Lions should experience greater roster continuity than they have in years past. All the coaching continuity in the world doesn't make a difference if a team keeps bringing in all new players to learn the system.

For the first two years of his tenure, Jim Schwartz has done just that. He had to; there was an undeniable stench surrounding the team when he took over, and he absolutely had to refresh the roster, for the sake of both talent and fan sentiment.

Even though there will undoubtedly be some free agent moves, 2011 marks the first time that Schwartz is likely to keep more players than he flips, and that means a lot of players are going to have a lot less to learn when training camp finally rolls around.

Had the lockout happened last year, the Lions would have had eight starters in limbo, and that's just on the defense.

They would have gone through most of the 2010 offseason without Corey Williams, Kyle Vanden Bosch, C.C. Brown, Chris Houston, Nate Burleson, or Rob Sims.

Ndamukong Suh and Jahvid Best would have been drafted, but that's about it.

DeAndre Levy would have spent the offseason wondering what position he was going to play.

See what I'm getting at, here? Sure, the Lions have some questions, but there is no team that heads into 2011 with supreme confidence that the lockout has not dealt them any damage. However, the Lions seem to have very little to lose from the terms of the new CBA.

Many teams are waiting to see whether their prized free agents will be hitting the open market (and it looks like they will be), and a number of those teams could look drastically different depending on whether that player stays or goes.

Detroit would certainly like to keep Chris Houston around, but losing him wouldn't impact the Lions as much as losing Johnathan Joseph would hurt the Bengals, or Paul Posluszny would hurt the Bills.

And those are two pickups that would help the Lions a whole lot more than anyone they could possibly lose to free agency (Houston included).

Regardless of the result of the impending CBA, the Lions are facing many more opportunities to improve the team than there are chances to lose players and slide. The younger players have years to grow, and the veterans are mostly locked up for another couple of seasons.

The few players the Lions stand to lose can either be re-signed or replaced with relative ease once free agency begins. There will be a fair share of both, and fast.

Free agency figures to be a free-for-all this year, with every team trying to sign a bunch of players before training camp, and GM Martin Mayhew is just sly enough to fly in under the radar and pick up an underrated middle-tier guy on the cheap while the rest of the league enters a bidding war for Nnamdi Asomugha.

Regardless of what happens in free agency, the Lions figure to be uncharacteristically among the most well-prepared teams in football when the league opens for business this year. A vast majority of the players on the team have been playing in Detroit under Schwartz for at least a year, so they know what to expect and what is expected of them.

Now take a quick look at Minnesota, which is facing the rookie head coach/quarterback combo so often seen in rebuilding efforts. Or worse, Denver, San Francisco and Carolina, most of which would probably love to part out their teams and start from scratch under their new head coaches (think Detroit Lions, circa 2009).

Those teams are going to have a lot to figure out and not a lot of time to do it. Lions players just have to refresh their memories and bring the newbies up to speed. And if you don't think that makes a difference, just wait until you see Detroit and San Francisco play in Week 6.

Especially since it looks like we can count on that to happen now.