Jim Schwartz the Real Star of Detroit Lions' Kyle Vanden Bosch Signing

With all the talk about the NFL Draft and the Detroit Lions’ No. 2 pick, it seems Lions fans forgot about free agency.

That’s to be expected, considering the Lions’ biggest move in free agency last year was signing Larry Foote to a one-year deal. Nobody much expected the Lions to make much noise, as they never do.

Except the first day of free agency 2010.

Before twelve hours of this year’s free agency period had passed, Nate Burleson and Kyle Vanden Bosch became Detroit Lions.

Vanden Bosch is on for four years at $24 million, and Burleson for five years/$25 million.

Both deals are overpayments, for sure. Vanden Bosch is 31 years old and Burleson is a fringe No. 2 receiver at best. And yet, both deals make sense.

This is where the famed “uncapped year” comes into effect.

Both contracts are heavily front-loaded, so a large portion of both deals will not count against the salary cap, because it doesn’t exist right now. Furthermore, of the combined $49 million, only $21 is guaranteed: $10 million to Vanden Bosch (all to be paid in 2010), $11 million to Burleson.

What that means to you is that the Lions are ultimately assuming very little risk on these deals, and they’re both upgrades over the players in their roster spots right now. Whether they pan out in the long run remains to be seen, but right now, that’s not the point.

The point isn’t even how Martin Mayhew’s organizational competence seems vastly beyond that of his former boss.

The point is that Lions head coach Jim Schwartz wanted Vanden Bosch on his team. And five minutes after free agency began—that’s roughly 12:05 am, Eastern Time—Schwartz pulled a John Cusack on Vanden Bosch’s doorstep.

Literally. His doorstep. At his home in Tennessee. At midnight.

Reportedly, the meeting lasted until about three in the morning. After Schwartz left, Vanden Bosch had roughly enough to get some sleep, wake up, and announce that he was going to become a Detroit Lion.

Mission accomplished.

Ultimately, this is a move where there’s more to be excited about in the method than the results. Obviously, Schwartz wouldn’t have been able to pull a stunt like this if he didn’t have history with the ex-Titan as the former defensive coordinator at Tennessee. But knowing that, Schwartz used his connections and got his guy.

Now, Schwartz also loses some points for originality after Rex Ryan and Bart Scott had a similar moment last year, but because of that, Schwartz had a lot more to lose if his recruitment failed.

Schwartz had a much tougher case to make in every possible way. The Jets were a team pushing the playoffs last year, the Lions have a record of 2-30 their last two seasons. New York City is an international destination, Detroit...less so.

Circumstances aside, Schwartz put himself on the line for this signing. If Vanden Bosch had decided to go elsewhere, the story would have been about Schwartz’s grand gesture blowing up in his face, leading to a great deal of doom, gloom, and overall negativity on his young career as head coach.

As it turned out, the three-time Pro Bowler jumped on the Lions bandwagon after less than half a day’s worth of free agency, and while it’s possible that Vanden Bosch’s best years are behind him, it’s also possible that they aren’t.

Regardless, the attitude that Schwartz and the Lions management have portrayed in less than a day’s worth of free agency show something in a paradigm shift in the organization, behind management and coaching that are confident and competent enough to be aggressive about it.

We’ve been fooled before, so I fully understand that it may be far too soon to say this, but there is a possibility that the Detroit Lions organization, after rotting from the head for so long, has a coach and GM in place that are collectively competent enough to not cripple the Lions’ chances at winning.

It’s a low threshold to shoot for, certainly, but if you’ve been a Lions fan for the last decade or five, you’ll take it.