Detroit Lions Roster Takes Shape As Camp Begins

Friday, July 31—the date set for the beginning of Lions training camp at the Allen Park Headquarters, just outside of Detroit.

A wrap up of some news and notes from recent days (along with the obligatory comments).

• Draft picks signed: Matthew Stafford (April 25), Louis Delmas (July 30), DeAndre Levy (July 28), Derrick Williams (July 30), Sammie Lee Hill (July 30), Aaron Brown (July 17), Lydon Murtha (July 28), Zach Follett (July 20), Dan Gronkowski (July 25)

• As of 11:30 AM, July 31, Brandon Pettigrew remains unsigned. Tom Leward reports the deal is almost finalized. At Noon, Pettigrew officially becomes a holdout but the sides are extremely close.
  

It's great to hear that the draft picks have signed. All signs point to Pettigrew being a stand up guy so any selfishness seems unlikely. The reason for his upcoming "hold out" is basically waiting for other chips in the draft process to fall—along with the i's to be dotted and the t's crossed.

• Recently the Lions lost out on defensive tackle, Hollis Thomas who signed with the St. Louis Rams. 

Although Thomas would have certainly shored up the Lions' run defense for this season, the 35 year-old has a bit of an injury problem and also has served a suspension for steroids. Either way, this signing would have had no long term impact on the Lions franchise.

• The Lions have also worked out free agents, DJ Hackett (WR), Cleo Lemon, Brooks Bollinger, and Craig Nall (QBs).

Of the four workout players, DJ Hackett has the most capability of seeing the field. At 28, he has the physical tools one looks for in a WR but injuries have slowed him. He has never played a full NFL season.

• The Lions signed CB William James

A pure depth signing, James has great size and good athleticism but most of his upside is behind him. James should back up each outside cornerback position and allow Eric King to focus more on the nickleback position.

The wildcard in this scenario is Keith Smith. If Smith shows he can be fill in as an average starter in case of injury, James could find his usefulness short lived.

• Eric Hicks (DE), Rudolph Hardie (DT), Tra Battle (S), Antone Smith (RB) were all released.
  

No real news here. Hicks was a workout body because he knew Cunningham's system. Hardie will find himself as a camp body or back in Canada. Battle and Smith both have bonafide talent but lack NFL size.