Detroit Lions to the NFL: Bring Us Your Injured, Your Washed-Up, Your Overrated

Instead: Keep Shaun McDonald, who is also in his contract year. The man has done nothing but move up the depth chart since coming to Detroit, and he plays hard. Jabar Gaffney is a name few are talking about, but he has quietly put up good numbers in New England alongside Randy Moss, and the Patriots have a penchant for letting their WRs move to free agency.

However, I put a very strong "buyer beware" on Gaffney: "Solid" WRs in New England have disappeared outside the Patriots' system (Deion Branch, David Patten, Bethel Johnson, et al) in the past.

Offensive Line

Past:  For years now, Detroit has sported one of the worst offensive lines in football. Even in the days of Barry Sanders, a decent offensive line would have transformed his 2,000-yard seasons into 2,500-yard seasons.

So fans were understandably excited that the team had pulled off a trade for a starting right tackle and running back.

Unfortunately for them, George Foster started for the Lions for ten weeks in 2007, leading the league in false start penalties (nine) and coming in a close second in the sacks allowed race (9.5) in that time.

Future Blunder: Re-signing Foster. Though first-rounder Gosder Cherlius has cemented himself as the starting RT, the Lions have shown an extremely high tolerance for Foster's poor play, and he may stay on the roster as a backup, for no other reason than his familiarity with the Lions new blocking schemes.

Instead: Forget Foster ever resided in Detroit, continue to build the lines with high draft picks. If the Lions want to dabble in free-agency, Russ Hochstein will be available in 2009. He has been a career backup, but he has also played in New England, a team boasting one of the strongest and most consistent offensive lines in football.

On any other team, he is likely a starter, especially the Lions. Better yet, he is versatile, starting games or filling in at both guard positions, center, tight end, and fullback.

Defensive Line

Past: Chuck Darby. I would ask why, but I already know why. Darby is another piece of Rod Marinelli's "2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Reunion, Detroit, MI" plan. Unfortunately, he can't bring us Ronde Barber or Derrick Brooks. Not even Warren Sapp.

No, he brings in Chuck Darby, who had been getting pushed around in Seattle for a few years. Now, after starting 10 games, Darby has 16 tackles and a sack. Unless he doubles those figures in the next five games, he is heading for a career-worst year.

Future Blunder: I hate saying this. La'Roi Glover would be an awful acquisition for Detroit. I like the guy. I like the guy a lot. He is a six-time Pro-Bowler, a relentless pass rusher, and an absolute class act. He is also 34 years old, and because of his accomplishments, the Lions would overpay to get him.

This is a team with no present, only a future. Glover is a player who has very little future left in the league. Five or ten years ago, he would have transformed the defense. Today, not so much.

Look out, though, because the Lions are big on signing guys who would have been game-changers five years ago.

Instead: Look out for Jonathan Babineaux. A third-year man out of Iowa, he has quietly put up solid numbers in the middle of the Atlanta Falcons' line this year with 25 tackles and two sacks. It seems likely that the Falcons will try to re-sign him, but at 27 years old, he still has some upside, and may opt to test the open market.

Though he is undersized at 6'2", 285 pounds, he is very quick off the ball and does a good job of shooting gaps. On a side note, Julius Peppers' contract is up this season, and though he is aging, he still finds time to dominate and bring consistent pressure on the pass rush.

Linebacker

Past: Detroit has done a lot of picking linebackers out of the draft, and very little signing of free-agent linebackers. Except Paris Lenon. The Lions picked Lenon up for his fifth season, after spending his first four with the Packers. Looking at Lenon's stats, one would believe he is a solid player, and in many ways he is.

However, what the stats don't show is the number of times he is caught out of position or misses a tackle, and the poor job he does running the defense at middle linebacker. Not good for the supposed "leader" position on the defense.

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