The Detroit Lions off season started as soon as the final play of the past season was over. We are less than 2 months into the off season and even though it has been busy to say the least, there are still many unanswered questions for the team. Questions already answered are the retaining of Head Coach Jim Caldwell for another year and making Jim Bob Cooter the permanent Offensive Coordinator. The Lions also hired some others for the Coaching staff and let go long time Lions front office man, Sheldon White. The Lions also filled other key front office positions that they needed. With a new President and a new GM, the Lions will be given more time to right the ship and move forward building a solid team that will compete year in and year out. The bigger unanswered questions right now start with the biggest of all!! Will WR Calvin Johnson retire as He indicated and if He does what impact will this cause the Lions? And if he decides to play another year, the Lions will also have to restructure his contract and its salary cap hit!
First off, new GM Bob Quinn decision to keep HC Caldwell around for another year as many were wanting Caldwell to be fired, left us to wonder how much influence the Ford family (Owners of the Detroit Lions) had in this decision as everyone knew that Martha Ford liked Jim Caldwell allot. The Lions said all the right things in stating that this was solely Quinn's decision and only his decision. Time will tell if this is the right decision for the Lions and if indeed this was Quinn's decision and not the Fords. Rumors also say that some of the Fords are getting more involved with the Lions and I am sure this is evidenced in their hiring of Rod Wood as President of the Lions and a former "Yes Man" at Ford Motor Company.
Secondly, the Lions made numerous moves both on the Coaching staff as well in the front office of the Lions organization, hopefully building an elite Coaching staff and a stronger front office to deal with assessing of talent and managing the salary cap in a wise way. Hopefully the Fords will allow these People to do their jobs and not get it the way as it they been for decades. By Cleaning house and bringing in new People at the Top, hopefully will turn the Lions around for years to come. But GM Quinn will definitely have his hands full moving forward as the Lions front office for years has been in flux and chaos and even the past few years with Martin Mayhew as GM, the Lions still had major draft snafu's and allot of dead money tied up in bad contracts. Restructuring some deals will be paramount to the team moving forward and being a player in the free agency market.
The Lions, as well as their fans and the rest of the NFL is waiting for Calving Johnson to share his intention of either playing another year or retiring. Many, including myself, think the Lions already know what Johnson is going to do, but the Lions have kept this quiet at this point for all season ticket deposits were due at the end of February and the Lions want to make sure they keep their seats filled for the upcoming season. Pouring more salt into a wound with their fans and season ticket holders, the Lions chose again to raise ticket prices even after a very disappointing season after coming off an 11-5 season in 2014 and a playoff game.
The upcoming 2016 season for the Lions will be intriguing at best, they can either go 5-11 or be 11-5. There are many areas on both sides of the ball that need to be addressed through free agency as well as the draft. Part of how the Lions draft will depend on if Johnson stays or retires but as evidenced in the 2015 football season, the OL was porous and bad most of the time and needs to be severely upgraded to protect QB Stafford and open up holes for the RB's. The DL needs some help as does the LB core and Secondary who were burned repeatedly last year. The Lions already have started to get ready for Free Agency and the Draft by releasing seasoned players and freeing up much needed cap space. Also an increase of about $14M to the salary cap will help this season too. Hopefully, there is a plan moving forward that will provide building the team through the draft and adding key Free Agents and putting a competitive playoff team on the field every year and maybe just maybe at some point a trip to the Super Bowl for all the loyal fans who have suffered for so many years but stood behind the Lions through the Ugly, the Bad, and a bit of Good. The question will be, is there a glimmer of hope and success at the end of the tunnel going forward or will this be the same ole Lions once again? We should have our answers to these questions in about 6 months or so...........
@cupofjoeinthed
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