A familiar name and face to the Lions organization is back. The man I'm talking about is wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim. Hakim had played for Detroit from 2002 to 2004, and now can add 2006 to that list. Today, Hakim was signed to a one-year deal.
With the Lions, Hakim didn't do anything too special, but prior to his stay in the Motor City, his numbers were nothing to look past. Under Mike Martz at St. Louis, Hakim had the best season of his career statistically with eight total touchdowns.
So, what does this signing exactly mean for the Lions? Well, there are actually quite a few story lines that will likely develop from this signing. First off, there is now an abundance of players at the wide receiver position. The question of who should be playing now arises.
Mike Furrey and Eddie Drummond were the two that played behind Roy Williams on Sunday, and that will probably change with Hakim back on the team. Furrey actually led the Lions in receiving yards against Seattle, and made some key receptions on third down.
Another player that will undoubtedly be affected by this signing is Mike Williams. Williams wasn't even active for the season-opener, and will now have an even tougher time seeing any playing time with a veteran like Az-Zahir Hakim on the roster. Charles Rogers may have been the one who officially was cut, but isn't that sort of what's going on for Mike Williams right now? He doesn't even dress because he's on the inactive list for the first game, and now may wind up there again. It's a shame that a player with so much potential just goes to waste.
The signing of Az-Zahir Hakim comes at the most predictable time for the Lions to make a move like this since the first game has passed, and now Detroit won't have to guarantee his contract for the entire season. If you remember back to the summer, Hakim came to Detroit and had a physical, but the Lions passed on him since they wanted to evaluate their current players at the time, and also because Hakim was having knee problems.
Peter Warrick had worked out for the Lions last week and also had a physical, so some thought he could have been signed. It won't happen now that Hakim is on the team because another wide receiver would just be way too many.
In order to make room on the roster for Hakim, wide receiver Devale Ellis was waived and re-signed to the practice squad.