2024 Offseason

[football karma]

lol it would take 2-3 VERY GOOD drafts just to match Philly in terms of talent.

Philly went from 4-11-1 in 2020 to the SB in 2022

granted: they had pieces on that roster that survive today - Kelce, Maialata, Cox -- but nothing crazy

2021 Philadelphia Eagles season - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

its interesting to click through the seasons -- 2020, 2021, 2022 and see their draft and roster moves

the drafts worked, but nothing was spectacular

the UFA work was not several high dollar guys --

 

[DVontel]

Is that what we’re doing?

What do we have in common with the Lions besides a commitment to losing?

That’s exactly what we’re doing.

A complete tear down from the previous regime’s cancerous mistakes. Not fooling the fanbase into thinking we’re close & continuance of kicking the can down the road. Brad Holmes acknowledged that, suffered through his first season & half of his second season, made the right picks & signings, now the Lions look like a top 2-3 team in the NFC with young cornerstones.

I wish you & plenty others can stop pretending you hated/disliked Keim. You legitimately have the same mindset as him in wanting to be faux playoff contenders. Just own up to that. It’s so obvious.

 

[kerouac9]

That’s exactly what we’re doing.

A complete tear down from the previous regime’s cancerous mistakes. Not fooling the fanbase into thinking we’re close & continuance of kicking the can down the road. Brad Holmes acknowledged that, suffered through his first season & half of his second season, made the right picks & signings, now the Lions look like a top 2-3 team in the NFC with young cornerstones.

I wish you & plenty others can stop pretending you hated/disliked Keim. You legitimately have the same mindset as him in wanting to be faux playoff contenders. Just own up to that. It’s so obvious.

1) The Lions being a top team in the NFC isn’t saying much.

2) The bolded part is the trick, isn’t it? We came out of the last draft with a B- right tackle and a bunch of depth players. Where will we get in three seasons of this?

3) the only offseason moves I was mad about were losing Murphy and Allen. Two guys proven to be NFL players and entering their primes. There is a difference between this and signing Jordan Phillips and Rodney Hudson for big money.

 

[DVontel]

1) The Lions being a top team in the NFC isn’t saying much.

They’re behind Philly, who is the best team in the NFL. That’s kind of saying a lot.

2) The bolded part is the trick, isn’t it? We came out of the last draft with a B- right tackle and a bunch of depth players. Where will we get in three seasons of this?

The former pretty much applied to the Lions their first year under Holmes. Amon-Ra was good from the start while Penei was solid, but still needed room the grow. Maybe give them time to grow like the Lions did before final judgements?

3) the only offseason moves I was mad about were losing Murphy and Allen. Two guys proven to be NFL players and entering their primes. There is a difference between this and signing Jordan Phillips and Rodney Hudson for big money.

I wasn’t mad about Murphy because CB is a position way too volatile year-by-year to count on. Zach? Sure. I was annoyed with that. Trench players are key.

I’m not happy with every move Monti & the FO has made this year, but I am happy they didn’t treat me like an idiot & believe this team was anywhere close to real contention before they hopped on board.

 

[kerouac9]

They’re behind Philly, who is the best team in the NFL. That’s kind of saying a lot.

The former pretty much applied to the Lions their first year under Holmes. Amon-Ra was good from the start while Penei was solid, but still needed room the grow. Maybe give them time to grow like the Lions did before final judgements?

I wasn’t mad about Murphy because CB is a position way too volatile year-by-year to count on. Zach? Sure. I was annoyed with that. Trench players are key.

I’m not happy with every move Monti & the FO has made this year, but I am happy they didn’t treat me like an idiot & believe this team was anywhere close to real contention before they hopped on board.

Detroit beat KC in the opening week and hasn’t beaten anyone good yet. Their schedule is embarrassing. They lost to Seattle in OT and got curb-stomped by Baltimore. They’re showing that Cards-under-Arians vibe of just waiting until the other teams in your division collapse.

The Lions are whatever they are now because they traded Matt Stafford for 2 first round picks and got a franchise QB as a bonus. Also their OC seems pretty good.

 

[Crimson Warrior]

Kool-aider extraordinaire here and this morning I too fear for the soul of the franchise, which seems in mortal peril.

But... we already have the most important piece to a rebuild. A legit MVP candidate at QB.

And while I think MO/JG/NR/DP will stumble some as they grow into their roles, I would still wager they will be very successful at the NFL level. Not a ton of empirical evidence to support this this, but call it a gut feeling.

Hang in there my friends.

 

[Dback Jon]

At least we have an opportunity to draft two middle linebackers in the first round.

Yes, that philosophy is exactly why we’re so barren of talent

 

[Dback Jon]

lol it would take 2-3 VERY GOOD drafts just to match Philly in terms of talent.

and the sad thing is that one of their most talented players was on our team and our drunk former GM let him walk for nothing

 

[DVontel]

Detroit beat KC in the opening week and hasn’t beaten anyone good yet. Their schedule is embarrassing. They lost to Seattle in OT and got curb-stomped by Baltimore. They’re showing that Cards-under-Arians vibe of just waiting until the other teams in your division collapse.

Bad losses happen. It is what it is. For the most part, they have beaten the teams presented in front of them.

The Lions are whatever they are now because they traded Matt Stafford for 2 first round picks and got a franchise QB as a bonus. Also their OC seems pretty good.

Yea, they noticed their 30+ year old QB & themselves needed a fresh new change. They needed to tear it all down & go through a rebuild. They acknowledged they reached the crossroads. K9, you’re making my point for me.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Lol… you keep talking about us “staying in purgatory.” Uh… we weren’t in purgatory last year. We were in hell. That’s where you are as the 3rd pick in the draft. That’s where you’re supposed to start rebuilding. We took a gap year, so we chose to remain in hell and because of that, it will be even harder to get out of hell because no one in their right mind wants to play in hell.

Players went to Jacksonville. Pay players and they will come.

 

[GeorgiaCard88]

Yup. We had the third pick in the draft and are going to end up with a slightly above-average right tackle and the 20th pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

Ojulari is a bum
Garrett Williams is ok I guess?
Michael Wilson can’t earn targets
Kei’trel Clark was a healthy scratch
Clayton Tune is horrendous

I mean, how great do we feel about the 2024 draft?

I haven’t watched Anderson play but based on his stats and the vibes from a quick google search. He is an above average defensive end- not exactly what I expect out of a top 3 pick. He’s definitely not terrorizing offenses. I think Paris is having a solid season so far and there is nothing saying we can’t move him to the left (hopefully we will at some point).

I’m still hopeful about Williams and Wilson. Agree I’m less hopeful about ojulari, and I’ve seen all I need to from Clark. Stills hasn’t been a dominating force- but he has definitely been a contributor which is more than you expect out of a 7th rounder.

All in all- I’m happy but not gangbusters on our draft. A miss on ojulari really would suck given how crappy this team is right now

 

[Chopper0080]

I fully understand why you are so adamant on staying in purgatory with a post like this.

For 2024?

 

[Chopper0080]

Lions were 9-8 in year 2. There should be a similar expectation for the Cardinals. The one requirement is that Kyler Murray shows he is as good as Jared Goff.

 

[BirdGangThing]

Yup. We had the third pick in the draft and are going to end up with a slightly above-average right tackle and the 20th pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Paris is having a better rookie year than Oh Captain, Your Captain

I don't see what's not to like about the kid - love the motor and his positive confident mindset - I think we're talking about our future LT here

 

[CT CARDSFAN]

My offseason program:
Free Agents: Conner Williams LOG 6'5" 312, 26yrs, 5 years @ $68,000,000/ $13.6per
I want a seasoned LG to be the OL leader.
Michael Davis, CB, 6'2" 195, 28yrs, 4 years @ $36,000,000/$9.0per
Christian Wilkins, DT, 6'4", 310, 28yrs, 4 years @ $80,000,000/$20per
Draft Before Trading Out of 1st pick:
#1 Olu Fashanu, Best pass pro blocking OT in the draft, have to protect Murray.
#1 Rome Odunze, WR, A Bolden with speed and great hands.
#2 Cooper DeJean, S/CB Would be a starting safety with CB instincts and experience.
#3 Mekhi Wingo, DT, Good Penetrator
#3 Dontay Corleone, DT
#3 Max Melton, CB
#4 Raheim Sanders, RB
#4 Sedric Van Pran, C
Trade or release DJ Humphries and Zack Ertz.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I'm fine with the teardown - I just wish we would have gotten some good players for the rebuild part of the equation!

Just punting on this entire season and not really seeing much of anything to build on moving forward is pretty grim times.

 

[kerouac9]

Correct me if I'm wrong but Paris is having a better rookie year than Oh Captain, Your Captain

I don't see what's not to like about the kid - love the motor and his positive confident mindset - I think we're talking about our future LT here

Paris Johnson Jr's getting tons of help on almost every play. There were third downs yesterday when he had 2 TEs and a RB on his side and The Captain was left 1:1 with Myles Garrett.

I think that PJJ has been just fine at right tackle. I don't see any traits that make me think he's ready to be an above average left tackle. I think Monti saw that the 2023 draft class was thin and understood that he couldn't shepherd the team to a 3-14 season and bust on the #1 pick so he took a low-ceiling, high-floor prospect.

We haven't seen a lot of those "Check out PJJ dominating Player X" tweets anymore. It's not because he's getting dominated (he's not). It's just because he's been fine and there is an absolute dumpster fire going on on the other side of the line in Daley/Wilkinson.

 

[DVontel]

I'm fine with the teardown

Are you really, though? I really get the heavy sentiment that you guys just wanted to continue to kick the can down the road just to stay “competitive”.

 

[Proximo]

If Kyler stays, we should get a pretty good haul to move out of the 1st position.

Also we have cap space to add mid level starters.

I think all things considered the defense has been decent despite lacking much talent. Good enough that most games are winnable with a good offense. If Kyler looks good, fixing the offense is very doable and that alone should make us very competitive IMO.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Are you really, though? I really get the heavy sentiment that you guys just wanted to continue to kick the can down the road just to stay “competitive”.

One of the main issues of bottoming out is that nobody wants to be a part of that experience, for obvious reasons. It may have been one of the issues in terms of acquiring decent players last offseason, but being just as bad/worse this season probably won't make it any easier to get good players, if that is the goal.

It seems we've put all of our eggs in the "draft well" bucket, instead of exploring trades/FA as ways to add talent. That's a very narrow path, and draft picks often take several years to develop. 4-5 year rebuilds just don't happen in the NFL because nobody has the patience, and so much can change year to year.

Look at what Houston did in FA - they were as bad as us, but thriving this year because they brought in legitimate NFL players.

Bringing Kyler back and expecting him to turn this clown show into a winning team is a hell of a burden for a guy coming off of an ACL.

 

[Dback Jon]

One of the main issues of bottoming out is that nobody wants to be a part of that experience, for obvious reasons. It may have been one of the issues in terms of acquiring decent players last offseason, but being just as bad/worse this season probably won't make it any easier to get good players, if that is the goal.

It seems we've put all of our eggs in the "draft well" bucket, instead of exploring trades/FA as ways to add talent. That's a very narrow path, and draft picks often take several years to develop. 4-5 year rebuilds just don't happen in the NFL because nobody has the patience, and so much can change year to year.

Look at what Houston did in FA - they were as bad as us, but thriving this year because they brought in legitimate NFL players.

Bringing Kyler back and expecting him to turn this clown show into a winning team is a hell of a burden for a guy coming off of an ACL.

They also knew they didn't have a first round pick.

They started from a better spot, and got their new QB some weapons.

2024 Cardinals should use the 2023 Texans as the guide.

 

[Arz101]

There was no moment like that under Kliff Kingsbury like what we say as offense yesterday.

 

[kerouac9]

Are you really, though? I really get the heavy sentiment that you guys just wanted to continue to kick the can down the road just to stay “competitive”.

This is re-visiting well-traveled ground from the offseason, but it's hard to consider this a real teardown when James Conner and Zach Ertz were still on the roster (and, really Budda Baker).

Conner and Ertz take up $20 million in salary cap space this year and will eat up $8 million in dead money next year (or $21 million if they're still on the roster). Rip the band-aid all the way off.

If Kyler stays, we should get a pretty good haul to move out of the 1st position.

Also we have cap space to add mid level starters.

I think all things considered the defense has been decent despite lacking much talent. Good enough that most games are winnable with a good offense. If Kyler looks good, fixing the offense is very doable and that alone should make us very competitive IMO.

I just disagree with this. It looks better based on game script. Whenever we've closed within shouting distance of an opponent we've folded up shop and let the game get away from us. I said it earlier: the New York Giants scored 31 points against us and 70 points combined in their other eight games this year.

 

[Cheesebeef]

That’s exactly what we’re doing.

A complete tear down from the previous regime’s cancerous mistakes. Not fooling the fanbase into thinking we’re close & continuance of kicking the can down the road. Brad Holmes acknowledged that, suffered through his first season & half of his second season, made the right picks & signings, now the Lions look like a top 2-3 team in the NFC with young cornerstones.

I wish you & plenty others can stop pretending you hated/disliked Keim. You legitimately have the same mindset as him in wanting to be faux playoff contenders. Just own up to that. It’s so obvious.

Simply singing one or two buildings blocks in the off-season wasn’t going to change this team from being the train wreck it is right now. And saying otherwise is bizarre.

There’s no reason we had to do absolutely nothing in the off-season. That’s NOT what the Lions did.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'm fine with the teardown - I just wish we would have gotten some good players for the rebuild part of the equation!

Just punting on this entire season and not really seeing much of anything to build on moving forward is pretty grim times.

This isn’t hard for anyone to understands who can admit to being wrong.