Updated Lions Off-season Plan

[detroit1811]

Over the cap has us at 10.7mil in cap space right now and is is completely updated as far as I can tell outside of Tim Boyle. Neither Spotrac or overthecap has him in so I'm guessing his reported details are not official. I will assume it is 2.5mil for now, but it is possible they added a voided year to lower his number a little. Either way his signing would push the 51st contract off the roster and that is 780k so that would put us at 8.9mil in cap space. Not sure what Kalif Raymond got who we just signed, but I doubt it is much more then the minimum. Here is what I would do with that money.

Damontae Kazee 1 year 3mil 2mil signing bonus with 2 voidable years making a year one cap hit of about 1.5mil. This guy was a turnover machine in 2018 and 2019 getting 10 INT's and leading the league with 7 in 2018. Obviously he is coming off injury which is why he is cheap, but he played in 48 game in his first three years.

Kenny Vacarro 1 year 1.5mil. He has familiarity with Glenn as they were together in 2017 so they would know him well. He isn't a great player by any means, but could play that 3rd safety role well especially as an in the box safety on early downs.

K'Waun Williams 1 year 2.5mil with 1.5mil signing bonus and 1 voidable year making a year one cap hit of 1.75mil. Contract is in line with other nickel backs who have signed. You could also replace him with Brian Poole or Robey-Coleman, IMO. All three have been very solid in the nickel and would add a nice veteran presence at CB.

Alex Anzalone 1 year 1mil Obviously there is familiarity there and in 2020 he showed a few glimpses of why he was drafted in the 3rd round. He is a nice depth signing and maybe he can continue to develop into a potential starter.

Trai Turner 1 year 6mil with a 4mil signing bonus and 2 voidable year making his year one cap hit 3.33mil. He is going to settle for a prove it deal coming off injury, but I love this signing. He was considering one of the best guards in the game a couple years ago and is still only 27. Anthony Lynn coached him in LA last year so there is a connection. IMO his signing would solidify this O-Line and allow Big V and Crosby to compete at RT. We would then have the making of a top 10, maybe even top 5 O-Line.

All in all they would count a total of 9.08mil. They would have to replace someone on the top 51 and currently the cheapest contract on the roster is 780k. That would be a total of 3.9 mil. So 9.08mil - 3.9mil is 5.18mil against the cap. That leave us with roughly 3.7 mil left in cap space.

Draft

Rumor is the Patriots are extremely interested in Justin Fields and Trey Lance with a major crush of Fields. That could be a smokescreen, but they really need a young QB. Supposedly they plan on being aggressive is finding one.

Patriots make the move to jump up to #7 to take Justin Fields and give up 15, 46, and a 2nd in 2022 for #7.

#15 Micah Parsons, MLB He appears to be slipping a little in the eyes of the national media. Could that be that they are starting to get a clearer picture as they get more intel from teams? Regardless there is a very good chance he falls out the top 10 and it is not unreasonable he is sitting there at 15.

#41 Kadarious Tony, WR I think he adds a completely different element to this offense that we don't currently have. Poor mans Tyreek Hill.

#46 Jabril Cox, OLB He would be that run and chase LB'er who flies all over the field and excels in coverage. Would struggle against the run a bit as he adjusts to the NFL, but you have Parsons and Collins who can be those guys.

#72 Elijah Molden, CB I love what he can bring as a slot CB. Would be able to sit behind Williams and learn and offer nice depth as a rookie.

#101 Richie Grant S I think he has long term upside as a very good starting safety. I think he might not make it to this point, but the draft is very deep at safety and there will be good talent that drops.

#112 Dyami Brown, WR I think he has a lot of upside in the middle rounds of the draft, Both Williams and Perriman are on one year deal and he can sit behind those two and might be able to take their place in year 2.

#153 Kendrick Green, OG I think he offers nice depth and some long term potential.

Depth Chart

Offense

QB - Jared Goff (27,825,000), Tim Boyle (2,500,000), David Blough (850,000)

RB - DeAndre Swift (1,940,662), Jamaal Williams (1,625,000), Kerryon Johnson (2,069,357)

FB - Jason Cabina (850,000)

WR - Tyrell Williams (3,000,000), Breshad Perriman (2,437,500), Kadarious Toney (1,481,619), Quintez Cephus (856,072), Dyami Brown (870,154), Kalif Raymond (910,000?)

TE - T.J. Hockenson (5,580,789), Josh Hill (987,500), Hunter Bryant (786,666),

LT - Taylor Decker (4,900,000), Tyrell Crosby (2,254,923),

LG - Jonah Jackson (1,090,175), Logan Stenburg (965,410)

C - Frank Ragnow (3,748,229),

RG - Trai Turner (3,333,333), Kendrick Green (712,512)

RT - Halapoulivaati Vaitai (10,400,000), Matt Nelson (780,000)

Defense

DE - Trey Flowers (19,989,000), Romeo Okwara (4,500,000), Julian Okwara (1,119,730), Charles Harris (1,750,000), Austin Bryant (1,032,459)

DT - Michael Brockers, (3,050,000), Dashawn Hand (1,090,491), Nick Williams (2,968,750), John Penisini (822,794), Jashon Cornell (801,133)

OLB - Jamie Collins (7,333,333), Jabril Cox (1,354,540), Jalen Reeves Mabin (1,127,500)

ILB - Micah Parsons (2,833,886), Jahlani Tavai (1,880,173)

CB - Jeff Okudah (7,620,124), Amani Oruwariye (930,526), K'Waun Williams (1,750,000), Elijan Molden (932,579), Mike Ford (1,200,000),

S - Tracy Walker (2,403,497), Damontae Kazee (1,500,000), Kenny Vacarro (1,500,000), Will Harris (1,118,061), Richie Grant (870,154)

Special Teams

K - Randy Bullock (1,687,500)

P - Jack Fox (780,000)

LS - Don Mulbach (950,000)

KR - Kadarious Toney

PR - Kadarious Toney

That roster equals 157,651,131 in cap space for all 53. We would also be sitting on roughly 41,821,791 in dead cap space for the 2021 season. That would put us at 199,472,922 total used cap space for 2021. With the cap now set and the official roll over numbers we have 197,727,427 cap space available for 2021 so that would leave us over the cap by 1,745,495mil. I don't feel like re-doing any of the numbers so I will leave it there, but it is not hard to clear a couple mil in cap space. We would still have a lot of draft capital in 2022 (2 firsts, 2 seconds(Patriots trade), and 2 3rds (Golladay comp pick).

Now that the major moves have been decided I just wanted to do this to get a clearer picture of what the rest of the off-season could look like. Anyone else think a roster construction similar to this could be a decent team in 2021? Feel free to pick apart I enjoy doing these when I'm bored.

Just realized I left Anzalone off the list. Could swap him out with Austin Bryant, either would be an end of roster type player.

 

[detroit1811]

Also another thing to note I was looking at the free agent WR class for 2022 as it stands today and there could be some good options.

Chris Godwin
Allen Robinson
D.J. Chark
Mike Williams
Courtland Sutton
Michael Gallup
Tyler Lockett
Christian Kirk

We would have the cap to make a big splash if we didn't get our guy at #7.

 

[mhughes0021]

Does your updated 10.7mil cap number include our rookies are slated to make 8.4 mil? i dont think we have 10 mil in cap space. I think its more like 2.5 mil. But i like your draft. Parsons > Toney or Waddle > Cox is a coin flip. CB is becoming a priority...just to fill out a roster. A guy like Greg Newsome in rd 2 could become a target.

 

[detroit1811]

Does your updated 10.7mil cap number include our rookies are slated to make 8.4 mil? i dont think we have 10 mil in cap space. I think its more like 2.5 mil. But i like your draft. Parsons > Toney or Waddle > Cox is a coin flip. CB is becoming a priority...just to fill out a roster. A guy like Greg Newsome in rd 2 could become a target.

No because the draft hasn?t happened but at the end of it I took the projected salaries for the guys I signed, the salaries of the rookies I drafted In the slots they were picked, and the current Salaries Of the guys I have in the 53 that are currently on the roster and I finished over by under 2mil.

You gotta remember each rookie we draft takes the place of someone in the top 51 and right now the lowest cap number in our top 51 is 780k. So we we draft 6 players you can deduct 780k from the cap needed assuming those rookies make the roster. So 6 x 780,000 = 4.68mil. Then if the rookie pool is actually 8.4mil u would subtract 4.68mil so the rookie would only count an extra 3.72mil in cap space.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

Over the cap has us at 10.7mil in cap space right now and is is completely updated as far as I can tell outside of Tim Boyle. Neither Spotrac or overthecap has him in so I'm guessing his reported details are not official. I will assume it is 2.5mil for now, but it is possible they added a voided year to lower his number a little. Either way his signing would push the 51st contract off the roster and that is 780k so that would put us at 8.9mil in cap space. Not sure what Kalif Raymond got who we just signed, but I doubt it is much more then the minimum. Here is what I would do with that money.

Damontae Kazee 1 year 3mil 2mil signing bonus with 2 voidable years making a year one cap hit of about 1.5mil. This guy was a turnover machine in 2018 and 2019 getting 10 INT's and leading the league with 7 in 2018. Obviously he is coming off injury which is why he is cheap, but he played in 48 game in his first three years.

Kenny Vacarro 1 year 1.5mil. He has familiarity with Glenn as they were together in 2017 so they would know him well. He isn't a great player by any means, but could play that 3rd safety role well especially as an in the box safety on early downs.

K'Waun Williams 1 year 2.5mil with 1.5mil signing bonus and 1 voidable year making a year one cap hit of 1.75mil. Contract is in line with other nickel backs who have signed. You could also replace him with Brian Poole or Robey-Coleman, IMO. All three have been very solid in the nickel and would add a nice veteran presence at CB.

Alex Anzalone 1 year 1mil Obviously there is familiarity there and in 2020 he showed a few glimpses of why he was drafted in the 3rd round. He is a nice depth signing and maybe he can continue to develop into a potential starter.

Trai Turner 1 year 6mil with a 4mil signing bonus and 2 voidable year making his year one cap hit 3.33mil. He is going to settle for a prove it deal coming off injury, but I love this signing. He was considering one of the best guards in the game a couple years ago and is still only 27. Anthony Lynn coached him in LA last year so there is a connection. IMO his signing would solidify this O-Line and allow Big V and Crosby to compete at RT. We would then have the making of a top 10, maybe even top 5 O-Line.

All in all they would count a total of 9.08mil. They would have to replace someone on the top 51 and currently the cheapest contract on the roster is 780k. That would be a total of 3.9 mil. So 9.08mil - 3.9mil is 5.18mil against the cap. That leave us with roughly 3.7 mil left in cap space.

Draft

Rumor is the Patriots are extremely interested in Justin Fields and Trey Lance with a major crush of Fields. That could be a smokescreen, but they really need a young QB. Supposedly they plan on being aggressive is finding one.

Patriots make the move to jump up to #7 to take Justin Fields and give up 15, 46, and a 2nd in 2022 for #7.

#15 Micah Parsons, MLB He appears to be slipping a little in the eyes of the national media. Could that be that they are starting to get a clearer picture as they get more intel from teams? Regardless there is a very good chance he falls out the top 10 and it is not unreasonable he is sitting there at 15.

#41 Kadarious Tony, WR I think he adds a completely different element to this offense that we don't currently have. Poor mans Tyreek Hill.

#46 Jabril Cox, OLB He would be that run and chase LB'er who flies all over the field and excels in coverage. Would struggle against the run a bit as he adjusts to the NFL, but you have Parsons and Collins who can be those guys.

#72 Elijah Molden, CB I love what he can bring as a slot CB. Would be able to sit behind Williams and learn and offer nice depth as a rookie.

#101 Richie Grant S I think he has long term upside as a very good starting safety. I think he might not make it to this point, but the draft is very deep at safety and there will be good talent that drops.

#112 Dyami Brown, WR I think he has a lot of upside in the middle rounds of the draft, Both Williams and Perriman are on one year deal and he can sit behind those two and might be able to take their place in year 2.

#153 Kendrick Green, OG I think he offers nice depth and some long term potential.

Depth Chart

Offense

QB - Jared Goff (27,825,000), Tim Boyle (2,500,000), David Blough (850,000)

RB - DeAndre Swift (1,940,662), Jamaal Williams (1,625,000), Kerryon Johnson (2,069,357)

FB - Jason Cabina (850,000)

WR - Tyrell Williams (3,000,000), Breshad Perriman (2,437,500), Kadarious Toney (1,481,619), Quintez Cephus (856,072), Dyami Brown (870,154), Kalif Raymond (910,000?)

TE - T.J. Hockenson (5,580,789), Josh Hill (987,500), Hunter Bryant (786,666),

LT - Taylor Decker (4,900,000), Tyrell Crosby (2,254,923),

LG - Jonah Jackson (1,090,175), Logan Stenburg (965,410)

C - Frank Ragnow (3,748,229),

RG - Trai Turner (3,333,333), Kendrick Green (712,512)

RT - Halapoulivaati Vaitai (10,400,000), Matt Nelson (780,000)

Defense

DE - Trey Flowers (19,989,000), Romeo Okwara (4,500,000), Julian Okwara (1,119,730), Charles Harris (1,750,000), Austin Bryant (1,032,459)

DT - Michael Brockers, (3,050,000), Dashawn Hand (1,090,491), Nick Williams (2,968,750), John Penisini (822,794), Jashon Cornell (801,133)

OLB - Jamie Collins (7,333,333), Jabril Cox (1,354,540), Jalen Reeves Mabin (1,127,500)

ILB - Micah Parsons (2,833,886), Jahlani Tavai (1,880,173)

CB - Jeff Okudah (7,620,124), Amani Oruwariye (930,526), K'Waun Williams (1,750,000), Elijan Molden (932,579), Mike Ford (1,200,000),

S - Tracy Walker (2,403,497), Damontae Kazee (1,500,000), Kenny Vacarro (1,500,000), Will Harris (1,118,061), Richie Grant (870,154)

Special Teams

K - Randy Bullock (1,687,500)

P - Jack Fox (780,000)

LS - Don Mulbach (950,000)

KR - Kadarious Toney

PR - Kadarious Toney

That roster equals 157,651,131 in cap space for all 53. We would also be sitting on roughly 41,821,791 in dead cap space for the 2021 season. That would put us at 199,472,922 total used cap space for 2021. With the cap now set and the official roll over numbers we have 197,727,427 cap space available for 2021 so that would leave us over the cap by 1,745,495mil. I don't feel like re-doing any of the numbers so I will leave it there, but it is not hard to clear a couple mil in cap space. We would still have a lot of draft capital in 2022 (2 firsts, 2 seconds(Patriots trade), and 2 3rds (Golladay comp pick).

Now that the major moves have been decided I just wanted to do this to get a clearer picture of what the rest of the off-season could look like. Anyone else think a roster construction similar to this could be a decent team in 2021? Feel free to pick apart I enjoy doing these when I'm bored.

Just realized I left Anzalone off the list. Could swap him out with Austin Bryant, either would be an end of roster type player.

Good lord man, that's thorough. Well done.

I like it all. Parsons at 15 would be a really good pick. Toney in the 2nd or even Eskridge from WMU in the 3rd would be good. We need a dynamic playmaker.

I think we're doing a good job of filling immediate needs with capable players on short deals. It keeps our options open for the next two years where we'll have the draft capital and cap space to make more of a splash in the off seasons.

I can't say I'm unhappy with how the new regime is doing things to this point.

 

[mhughes0021]

Good lord man, that's thorough. Well done.

I like it all. Parsons at 15 would be a really good pick. Toney in the 2nd or even Eskridge from WMU in the 3rd would be good. We need a dynamic playmaker.

I think we're doing a good job of filling immediate needs with capable players on short deals. It keeps our options open for the next two years where we'll have the draft capital and cap space to make more of a splash in the off seasons.

I can't say I'm unhappy with how the new regime is doing things to this point.

They are making the most out of the little space they have to work with. Im still a little disappointed we're going into a rebuild with a vet qb making bank. Year 1 this roster is going to quickly look like swiss cheese once a couple injuries pop up. We're also severely lacking top tier talent. It's going to get ugly. Year 2 with multiple 1s and a ton of cap space will get exciting.

 

[detroit1811]

Good lord man, that's thorough. Well done.

I like it all. Parsons at 15 would be a really good pick. Toney in the 2nd or even Eskridge from WMU in the 3rd would be good. We need a dynamic playmaker.

I think we're doing a good job of filling immediate needs with capable players on short deals. It keeps our options open for the next two years where we'll have the draft capital and cap space to make more of a splash in the off seasons.

I can't say I'm unhappy with how the new regime is doing things to this point.

Thank you. A lot of it is a copy and paste from the one I've done before so it doesn't take that long.

 

[detroit1811]

They are making the most out of the little space they have to work with. Im still a little disappointed we're going into a rebuild with a vet qb making bank. Year 1 this roster is going to quickly look like swiss cheese once a couple injuries pop up. We're also severely lacking top tier talent. It's going to get ugly. Year 2 with multiple 1s and a ton of cap space will get exciting.

I do think depth is going to be a MAJOR issue this year if injuries strike. I think our D-line has okay depth and I like our RB's and TE depth, but that is it.

 

[LKP]

Afc north, nfc north pack and vikings at leasr, nfc west

Its a bloodbath even with the perfect roster. Rookie qb or vet

If we had Stafford which means less dead space too I would still say barely playoff potential

Lets see what new coaches and new schemes can do with a roster with lesser talent

No game changers is a problem. Can parsons or toney or cox be that. I feel like Waddle or Smith could be..but smith is boom or bust for me

I like Trai Tuner but more long term deal than 1 year. Too many stop gaps isnt good..understand why williams and perriman and bullock are..glad brockers and okwara a little more long term

 

[detroit1811]

Afc north, nfc north pack and vikings at leasr, nfc west

Its a bloodbath even with the perfect roster. Rookie qb or vet

If we had Stafford which means less dead space too I would still say barely playoff potential

Lets see what new coaches and new schemes can do with a roster with lesser talent

No game changers is a problem. Can parsons or toney or cox be that. I feel like Waddle or Smith could be..but smith is boom or bust for me

I like Trai Tuner but more long term deal than 1 year. Too many stop gaps isnt good..understand why williams and perriman and bullock are..glad brockers and okwara a little more long term

I think the issue with signing Turner long term is he isn't going to get the money he would want. It is possible you can do a one year team option deal.

I definitely agree on the game changers part. There isn't one surefire game changer on this roster.

 

[LKP]

I think the issue with signing Turner long term is he isn't going to get the money he would want. It is possible you can do a one year team option deal.

I definitely agree on the game changers part. There isn't one surefire game changer on this roster.

Agree he may want more long term. But can be fit..see Romeo deal..13 per but a 3 mil 2021 cap hit

 

[detroit1811]

Agree he may want more long term. But can be fit..see Romeo deal..13 per but a 3 mil 2021 cap hit

My point was he is coming off injury and he wasn?t playing well before the injury. I would be skeptical committing to him long term at top of the market guard money.

 

[byco42]

detroit1811: Excellent work. Clear and comprehensive. Will Fields fall to #7? That's my only question. The idea of NE giving up three picks for our #7 makes me smile.

 

[LKP]

My point was he is coming off injury and he wasn?t playing well before the injury. I would be skeptical committing to him long term at top of the market guard money.

Get that for injury risk. I hope Vaitai has a bounce back year at guard without the foot injury. Limits the need to right tackle and Crosby becomes swing tackle in a contract year. And then get guard/center depth on day 3. Lets see how Stenberg fits the new scheme too. They messed around too much trying him at center last year. Let him focus on guard

Wouldnt mind Austin Blythe or Lane Taylor either on 1 year

 

[detroit1811]

detroit1811: Excellent work. Clear and comprehensive. Will Fields fall to #7? That's my only question. The idea of NE giving up three picks for our #7 makes me smile.

Thanks, I think Fields or Lance will be there which should give us options I think.

Also obviously two guys on that list already signed with someone else, but CB and S are still deep in free agency and you could replace Williams with Brian Poole/Steven Nelson/Nickell Robey-Coleman and Damontae Kazee with Malik Hooker who probably has a longer injury history, but has a little more upside.

 

[tomdalton22]

detroit1811: Excellent work. Clear and comprehensive. Will Fields fall to #7? That's my only question. The idea of NE giving up three picks for our #7 makes me smile.

I highly doubt Fields falls to 7. Also, I can't remember the last time NE traded up...especially giving up that many picks. I honestly don't think they are a trade partner.

 

[detroit1811]

I highly doubt Fields falls to 7. Also, I can't remember the last time NE traded up...especially giving up that many picks. I honestly don't think they are a trade partner.

Can you remember the last time they made even a few big move in free agency, let alone a dozen? Brady winning the SB with Tampa embarrassed them and they are going all out in making sure they can get back to their winning ways. They will be super aggressive in the draft, IMO.

?I think the New England Patriots could be real aggressive,? Brooks said. ?We?ve seen the New England Patriots step outside their comfort zone as it relates to free agency. We saw them completely rebuild the roster with the number of signings and free agency. ? I believe they?re about to go all in on an offensive makeover. The young quarterback is the final piece to the puzzle. And I think that quarterback will be an athletic quarterback.?

That?s when Jeremiah stepped in with a quarterback he?s been hearing who the Patriots could select: Ohio State?s Justin Fields.

?I keep an eye on somebody like Trey Lance or Justin Fields,? Jeremiah said. ?Those are the two that would make sense for them to target. Hear a lot of rumors out there that they are really high on Justin Fields out of Ohio State. So, they?d have to (trade up) quite a ways to get Justin Fields.?

 

[tomdalton22]

Can you remember the last time they made even a few big move in free agency, let alone a dozen? Brady winning the SB with Tampa embarrassed them and they are going all out in making sure they can get back to their winning ways. They will be super aggressive in the draft, IMO.

?I think the New England Patriots could be real aggressive,? Brooks said. ?We?ve seen the New England Patriots step outside their comfort zone as it relates to free agency. We saw them completely rebuild the roster with the number of signings and free agency. ? I believe they?re about to go all in on an offensive makeover. The young quarterback is the final piece to the puzzle. And I think that quarterback will be an athletic quarterback.?

That?s when Jeremiah stepped in with a quarterback he?s been hearing who the Patriots could select: Ohio State?s Justin Fields.

?I keep an eye on somebody like Trey Lance or Justin Fields,? Jeremiah said. ?Those are the two that would make sense for them to target. Hear a lot of rumors out there that they are really high on Justin Fields out of Ohio State. So, they?d have to (trade up) quite a ways to get Justin Fields.?

It's true that they are doing things differently. I just don't see Fields lasting that long. I think he will be the 2nd QB taken

 

[detroit1811]

It's true that they are doing things differently. I just don't see Fields lasting that long. I think he will be the 2nd QB taken

I personally think Wilson is a shoo in as the 2nd QB taken. I think Lance or Fields will be there at #7 and they would both fit that athletic profile with major long term upside.

I put Lance for #2 meant Wilson I changed it.

 

[Mitchrapp]

No OSU QB please. That's like picking the Lions for the SB.