Open Rants by kirmie

I'm going to use this post to ramble about my thoughts on the positional needs for the Lions in the
coming offseason. The defense is in much more flux than the offense for the Lions in 2016. For the TL;DR version skip to the bottom.

DE:

Ezekiel Ansah is a monster. His 5th year option for '17 will definitely be picked up and the Lions will be working on his new contract. Devin Taylor finally started showing his potential and may get extended as well, but at a much lower rate as he wasn't spectacular by any means. The only other Lions at this position are FAs Jason Jones and Darryl Tapp. Tapp should be re-signed at the vet minimum because he is versatile and a good locker room presence, but will have to fight to make the team. Jones is solid and may be re-signed, but will have to be cheaper than he was previously.

If Jones isn't re-signed there will be a need here, but there will be a need regardless because of the lack of anybody after these 4 players. Larry Webster was a project on the practice squad, but seems to no longer be associated with the team. He may be given a new contract for a chance to play in 2016. Look for a cheep FA signing and a late round draft acquisition. The Lions will likely still be going after tall, lanky guys at this position since the coaching staff has been kept around.

DT:

The Lions made three moves to help replace Suh and Fairley in 2015 by trading for Haloti Ngata, drafting Gabe Wright in the 4th round, and signing Tyrun Walker. Ngata started poorly with a hamstring injury, but improved as the year went on. Walker went down after 4 games where he played OK, but nothing great. Wright played some, but once he had a small injury and the Lions signed a few vets he stopped being on the active game day roster. Adding strength could benefit Wright greatly. The main veteran signing who played over Wright were CJ Wilson and Khyri Thornton and both are under contract for 2016. The other DT worth mentioning here is 2014 5th round pick Caraun Reid. Reid did a great job getting bigger in the offseason and was a pleasant surprise. He will continue to be in the starting rotation for
2016.

Walker will likely be back on a cheap, 1 year deal. CJ Wilson has a $1.8M salary with $250k roster and workout bonuses so he may be cut for cap space depending on how much the Lions like him. Ngata is definitely an option to bring back if his price is reasonable. I also expect the Lions to take a serious look at the free agent market even if Ngata is re-signed. Nick Fairley may be targeted since he knows the coaches already. Depending on how the FAs play out this may be a big need in the draft or it may be ignored early. The Lions coach up their DL well and seem to be able to make anybody play well there so they could end up relying on a few veterans and look to the draft in 2017. Since the coaches are still in place there will continue to be a desire for pass rush first DT's over run stuffers.

Also, Andre Fluellen will likely be signed in the offseason. The Lions sign him every year. Sometimes more than once. He likely has the record for the most times being signed by a single team.

LB:

This position looked like it was set for 2015 with OLB's DeAndre Levy and Tahir Whitehead returning with MLB Stephen Tulloch and 2014 2nd round pick OLB Kyle VanNoy back from season ending injuries. Things derailed quickly here as Levy was lost for the season, Whitehead found himself as a backup behind Travis Lewis to start, Tulloch wasn't his old self, and VanNoy barely saw the field all year. I'm not sure what caused Lewis to be ahead of Whitehead, but Whitehead was much better after he got the starting job back. Eventually the starter opposite of Whitehead was Josh Bynes. Tulloch lost a step in pass coverage and was swapped out on many 3rd downs, though he was playing noticeably better as the year went on.

The free agents at this position for 2016 are Whitehead, Lewis, and Brandon Copeland. The Lions should make re-signing Whitehead a priority. Whitehead played MLB in 2014 and OLB in 2015, but says he prefers MLB. The Lions may cut Tulloch to save $6M in cap space which would give them the money to sign Whitehead. Bynes would take over as the other OLB while the Lions will count on Levy to return from injury. Copeland and Lewis will likely be signed to minimum deals and ST standouts with VanNoy trying to prove he isn't a bust. If a high end LB falls in the first round it would not surprise me at all if the Lions took him. I'd separate the need for a LB between OLB and MLB, but both Whitehead and Levy have played many games at MLB so the Lions have a lot of flexibility here.

CB:

This position was interesting in 2015. The starters were RaShean Mathis, Darius Slay, and Josh Wilson at NB. Mathis and Wilson were both lost to injury and replaced by 2014 4th round pick Nevin Lawson and 2015 6th round pick Quandre Diggs respectively. Lawson missed almost all of 2014 with a horrible foot injury, but both of these players exceeded expectations in 2015. Diggs especially, as he looks like he will be a quality NB for the future. Saddly, Mathis played well, but may retire after the concussion that caused him to miss the end of the season. If he no longer plays I would be a big fan of him staying on as an assistant DB coach. The other CB of note is 2015 3rd round pick Alex Carter. Carter missed the season after never being activated from the PUP list. He will compete for the outside CB job with the possibility of moving to safety depending on how things go.

Slay is in the last year of his contract and will be a priority for the Lions to extend as he has been great on the outside. The Lions likely don't have enough confidence in Lawson being the other outside CB across from Slay for a full season, but likely won't spend much on the position on a FA. I expect the Lions to be looking for CB early in the draft to be Slay's future counterpart and competing with Lawson and Carter. If the Lions don't get a CB early in the draft I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't draft a CB though. They will be looking for an outside guy and those are much, much harder to find as the draft goes on. 

S:

In 2015 the FS was Glover Quin with SS duties split between 2016 FAs Isa Abdul-Quddus (IAQ) and James Ihedigbo. IAQ was much better than Ihedigbo in pass coverage and will be another priority target for the Lions to re-sign. I don't expect that Ihedigbo will be back unless he lowers his price. The other two safeties for the Lions were Don Carey and Isaiah Johnson. Carey is a converted CB and ST standout who will round out the depth for the Lions. Johnson was an undrafted rookie who ended the season on the roster and didn't do much, but may be re-signed for a minimum contract.

If IAQ doesn't re-sign the Lions will absolutely need to sign a FA. Thankfully, there looks multiple safeties available at similar levels of talent. Quin is great, but he just turned 30 so the Lions won't shy away from taking a S in the draft.

Summary:

The Lions have multiple needs on defense and how the impending FAs are handled will have a big impact on this side of the ball.

1. At least one DE will be needed. This will likely be the return of Jason Jones or a cheap FA.
2. DT is a huge need, but may be entirely addressed through FA/re-signing. Look for the Lions to have at least 5 on the roster.
3. LB is a huge need, but may be entirely addressed through FA/re-signing, though the Lions could go after a high end LB in the draft.
4. CB has a hole on the outside because of Mathis' age and possible retirement. The Lions will likely draft a future replacement early. Especially since 2015 3rd round pick CB Alex Carter never had the chance to play this year.
5. S is another position that has an important impending FA. Isa Abdul-Quddus (IAQ) will be a priority, but the Lions will need to pick up another S for the future soon as there is a complete lack of depth.

If I had to prioritize the positions with no re-signings it would be DT, S, LB, DE, CB. I'm guessing Ngata and Walker are re-signed at DT, Whitehead signed and Tulloch cut at LB, IAQ re-signed at S, and Jason Jones re-signed at DE. If this happens the order would change to CB, LB, DT, DE, S. The Lions would definitely look for BPA out of these positions early with a high end CB or LB going over DL. A safety will almost assuredly be taken in the later rounds to try and fill out depth there. 

Bonus ST:

LS Don "The Nolan Ryan of Long Snappers" Mulbach will be re-signed until he retires or gets too old. P Sam Martin will be extended and K Matt Prater isn't going anywhere. Any pick up here is likely just a camp body.