Reassessing Lions' Offseason Plan and Breaking Down What's Left to Address

The Detroit Lions recently entered an offseason after a one-and-done playoff appearance with a plan to sit tight. This offseason has been similar to the 2012 version, although Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley forced general manager Martin Mayhew's hand this time around.

So did the Lions handle that adversity well? Was the plan that Mayhew presumably laid out before the new league year active enough to sustain the most recent success?

These questions won't have conclusive answers until the regular season gets underway in September. However, we can still evaluate what the team has done to this point and preview what work is left to do.

Ndamukong Suh Left

J Pat Carter/Associated Press

If you recently took on the particularly ambitious task of complete isolation for a month in order to better understand your place in the universe, this may come as a shock—Ndamukong Suh is no longer a Lion.

For the rest of us, it's as if it happened years ago. The story has been beaten to death from every possible angle.

First, there were the loud questions asking why general manager Martin Mayhew hadn't offered a contract over $100 million until the very end. And why did the Lions keep restructuring his deal when they knew the franchise-tag number would become implausible? 

"

Mayhew said the Lions made their $102 million offer to Suh in March, but wouldn't say exactly when.

— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) March 23, 2015"

Then the opinion switched to praising Mayhew's prudence. Of course he couldn't shell out $19 million annually for a defensive tackle. 

Finally, Mayhew came to admit there were mistakes in how he handled the situation, but he believes the Lions are in a better position to succeed long-term without Suh's contract.

"

Martin Mayhew said there's about 1,000 things he would've done differently in Ndamukong Suh talks, but thinks team is better off long term.

— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) March 23, 2015"

He may ultimately be right. The Lions may even win a playoff game. Yet Mayhew isn't going to get a pass from the public anytime soon after letting a future Hall of Famer leave in his prime.

Subtractions

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Ndamukong Suh wasn't the only player to skip town. 

First, there was Reggie Bush. The Lions decided his frailty and overall ineffectiveness rendered him a cap casualty. His rushing yards declined just over 70 percent from his 1,006-yard season the year prior, and various injuries limited him to just 11 games.

The move saved the Lions about $2.2 million off this year's cap, per Spotrac.com, but Detroit didn't flip that cash into a Nick Fairley contract.

Fairley, whose fifth-year option was famously declined last spring, ultimately signed with the St. Louis Rams for $5 million guaranteed, with incentives that could max him out at $7.5 million.

Mike O'Hara of DetroitLions.com, for one, didn't mind the Lions letting the former first-rounder walk:

"

@DeeKells0701 I like Fairley. thought he'd be better. But he had one sack when he went out -- in a contract year.

— Mike O'Hara (@MikeOHaraNFL) March 13, 2015"

O'Hara isn't wrong, but it's a shortsighted view of how Fairley played.

The real concern here was that Fairley wasn't motivated by Detroit turning down his option considering he was benched in August. He responded to that episode well and regained his starting gig, but it was too little, too late. Head coach Jim Caldwell is about accountability and maturity, neither of which Fairley showcased in Detroit.

Both of these moves are easily defensible. The Lions haven't lost anyone else of note, keeping the core of a playoff team together and setting the table for a decent 2015 so long as these holes are filled.

The Trade for Haloti Ngata

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

We all assumed the Lions would be aggressive in filling the holes left behind by Suh and Fairley. What happened next was a secret to everyone outside of Allen Park:

"

Detroit @Lions have acquired DT Haloti Ngata in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens. #Lions #HalotiNgata pic.twitter.com/u4LjLFfsdY

— WBKBSports (@WBKBSports) March 10, 2015"

Detroit gave up this year's fourth- and fifth-round picks and got Baltimore's seventh-rounder. And Ngata's contract only accounts for $8.5 million against Detroit's cap, so the price was right on both sides.

A few people, however, don't think it was the right move for the Lions. Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press thought the value wasn't there for an aging player:

"

He [Mayhew] lost plenty in this transaction with two middle-round draft picks that are only considered throwaways with the Lions because that's what they've too often done with them under Mayhew's watch. The good teams win these kind of trades because they appreciate the value of those picks, motivating them to throw away a star who has potentially outlived that allure.

"

And Sharp lamented "Mayhew's inability to regularly find starters from the middle of the draft" earlier in that piece. I understand Sharp's point that Detroit could find a talented player in either of those two rounds, but it's ill-founded. 

He completely discounted a player who has never had a negative Pro Football Focus grade and, in fact, posted his highest such grade last season (23.1). Furthermore, it's rare to find an immediate or even eventual starter in the mid-rounds, and you're certainly not going to find one capable of making an impact on Ngata's level.

Detroit needed to find a way to transition to a new era along the defensive line. Ngata might not be the long-term solution, but he's a very good stopgap at the least.

Free-Agent Additions and Re-Signings

Bill Feig/Associated Press

The Lions retained more than a few of their free agents, including the entire quarterbacking depth chart (Dan Orlovsky and Kellen Moore) and a couple of chief components of the surprisingly sturdy secondary (Rashean Mathis and Isa Abdul-Quddus).

All of those signings were the types of solid moves a contending team should make. It's impossible to guess whether Mathis can maintain his 12th-best cornerback pace, but it's worth a shot at the price (two years, $3.5 million), and he's a valuable leader. And Abdul-Quddus is a strong special teamer as well as a talented backup safety.

Obviously, the reserve quarterbacks probably won't matter much since Matthew Stafford didn't miss a single snap last year. It's more a matter of bringing in players who know the system when the free-agent market couldn't have been weaker.

However, Detroit did make one signing that brought in a hefty amount of praise and regret from his former coach:

"

Sean Payton on Lions signing Tyrunn Walker: "Starting to wonder why we let him out of the building." http://t.co/IUgTgV44Wv

— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) March 26, 2015"

Tyrunn Walker will be the pass-rushing jelly to Haloti Ngata's run-stuffing peanut butter. Or perhaps you prefer lamb and tuna fish? Regardless, if Walker's rotational production in New Orleans (306 snaps, 8.0 PFF grade) scales well to starter's minutes, the Lions will be fine so long as they find one more semi-talented defensive tackle.

What Needs to Be Done

Duane Burleson/Associated Press

The first order of business will be turning down the right to match George Johnson's three-year, $9 million offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Johnson had a breakout year with 27 hurries, five quarterback hits and seven sacks, per Pro Football Focus, earning the 10th-highest pass-rushing productivity score. That doesn't change that he's solely a pass-rushing specialist who thrived next to Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley. 

Those guys aren't worth $3 million annually, and general manager Martin Mayhew knows it, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press explained here:

"

Had the Lions really wanted to keep Johnson, they could have virtually assured themselves of his return by tendering him at a second-round level for about $800,000 more ($2.356 million total).

Under that tender, the Lions would have had the right to match any offer Johnson signed or receive a second-round draft pick as compensation, a price no team would have paid for a journeyman pass rusher.

"

Good teams don't pay for career years.

With that matter in hand, Mayhew can now turn to finding a starting left guard and rotational players at running back, defensive tackle and defensive end. The draft would be a fine place for any of those positions, as well as a cornerback of the future, although the Lions might sign Justin Blalock to solidify the offensive line.

In conclusion, the Lions have actually had very little upheaval when you look at the forest instead of the trees. Detroit needs to focus on finding a couple of cheap options along the defensive line and a starter for the offensive line. Accomplish those goals, and this offseason can be considered a mild success. That's enough considering the foundation that has already been laid.

All contract numbers are courtesy of Spotrac.com. All advanced metrics, grades and positional rankings are sourced from Pro Football Focus.

Brandon Alisoglu is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist who has written about the Lions on multiple sites. He also co-hosts a Lions-centric podcast, Lions Central Radio. Yell at him on Twitter about how wrong he is @BrandonAlisoglu.