Wednesday Notes: Still No Plans to Trade Roy

by Sean Yuille on Mar 19, 2008 2:11 PM EDT in Detroit Lions Notes

The Lions re-signed defensive end Corey Smith to a one-year contract on Monday.
Tom Kowalski reported one possible explanation for Kevin Jones being cut from the Lions, and to no surprise, it has to do with injuries.

After talking to people in and around the organization, the main reason the Detroit Lions released running back Kevin Jones is because of his past injury history and his uncertain short-term future.
I get that his injury was a concern, but I still don't get the timing aspect of this situation. If Jones would have been released at the start of free agency, it would have been much more likely that a free agent running back signed with Detroit. At the same time, if the Lions wait for another month or so - at least until the draft - to see where Jones is at in his rehab, then things may have changed.
Interest in Kevin Jones from teams around the league quickly is rising.
SI's Peter King had an interesting tidbit included in this week's Monday Morning Quarterback article.
Now here's a surprise: Since Matt Millen took over as team president in 2001, the Lions are batting .286 on their first- and second-round draft choices. (I don't include the 2007 draft; it's too early to tell on the yield from last year's first two rounds: Calvin Johnson, Drew Stanton, Ikaika Alama-Francis and Gerald Alexander.) But with the whacking last week of 2002 second-rounder Kalimba Edwards and 2004 first-rounder Kevin Jones, the black marks against the Detroit drafts just keep rising.
When you draft a player in the first or second round, you're counting on him becoming an above-average player for your team. That's my line of demarcation. Of the 14 players picked by Millen in the first two rounds of the six drafts between 2001 and 2006, I count four players being above-average NFL starters for the Lions on their depth chart this morning: tackle Jeff Backus, center Dominic Raiola, wide receiver Roy Williams and linebacker Ernie Sims.

I'm not even sure if I consider Backus as an "above-average" NFL starter. He certainly didn't look like one last year.
Lions players returned to Allen Park on Monday to begin offseason conditioning.
Rod Marinelli defends the Lions (his) love of former Tampa Bay players.
Marinelli also reiterates that the Lions are not going to trade Roy Williams.
SI's Don Banks ranked the Lions as the fifth most improved team this offseason. I think that's a little high. There's no doubt they have added depth quite a bit at the defensive back position, but other than that I fail to see how this team has gotten much better than last year.