Detroit Lions: Does Brandon Jacobs Make Sense in Motown?

According to ESPN, the New York Giants are planning on cutting running back Brandon Jacobs.

Jacobs, you might remember, was groomed as the replacement for Tiki Barber, went on to have two 1,000-yard seasons for New York and was the earth in the "Earth, Wind and Fire" backfield that the Giants employed a few years ago.

Since then, Jacobs has continued to be one of the best short-yardage backs in the game, though his numbers were near his career lows last year.

So why should Lions' fans care about Jacobs?

One, the Lions have one of the worst running attacks in the league, and their two main running backs on the roster have huge question marks surrounding them.

Mikel Leshoure could be a difference-maker, but he was injured early in training camp last year and has never played a down in the pros. Sure, he could be the next Peyton Hillis, but he also could be the next Artose Pinner.

Jahvid Best is an electric runner when on the field, but after an injury-plagued career thus far, you have to wonder if he is structurally strong enough to play this game at the professional level.

Two, the Lions had an incredibly bad third-down conversion rate last year.

Too often, the Lions put quarterback Matthew Stafford in a bad positions on third down because they were unable to take any pressure off of him on the first two downs.

With a power back like Jacobs, they are sure to gain at least a few yards on the first two downs, which gives the Lions offense more versatility.

Three, the offense too often depended on the pass in the red zone, which led to a very predictable scoring offense.

In the NFL, teams adjust quickly, and the Lions have got to expect that teams will not sleep on them this year.

Lastly, Jacobs should come relatively cheap.

He was due to make $4.4 million this year, but given his numbers last year (which are misleading considering he only started a few games) he should expect a pretty drastic pay cut.

And considering that there are already a handful of backs on the market who are similar and younger (Hillis, Mike Tolbert, Michael Bush), the Lions should be in a buyers market.

If Detroit can sign Jacobs to an incentive-laden contract, they should be able to cash in on a veteran back who can punish at the line of scrimmage and help in the red zone.

I mean, come on Lions fans, do we really want to go into this year with Maurice Morris as our most dependable running back?