The Lions officially signed wide receiver Shaun McDonald today to a two-year deal. McDonald played for the St. Louis Rams the last four seasons, meaning he will get to play for Mike Martz again. Knowing this offensive system certainly helps McDonald as being familiar with it already is a huge advantage.
McDonald will be able to come in and compete for two jobs in my opinion. First, I think he will have a great shot at the #3 wide receiver slot. McDonald's biggest competition will probably be Mike Williams, but since McDonald already knows the system, I wouldn't be shocked to see that he beat BMW out if it happens.
Speaking of Mike Williams, he better be very thankful right now since Kevin Curtis wasn't signed. That would've probably done him in and I would've expected the former USC receiver to be cut. However, now that McDonald was signed and Curtis went somewhere else, BMW may have another chance. Nothing against McDonald, but he isn't as good as Curtis at this point in time. I'm not saying he can't get to that talent level in the next season, just look at Mike Furrey for proof of that, but BMW will have a better chance of beating out McDonald rather than trying to compete with Furrey or Curtis.
As far as other roles Shaun McDonald could see, I think there is a great possibility he goes to the return game. If he was good enough there, then if I was Eddie Drummond I'd be worried about my roster spot. Drummond is not a great receiver and hasn't been as good returning recently. Already some have speculated that he could be beat out by Devale Ellis, another receiver, so McDonald coming in may completely seal his fate if something doesn't change.
Free agency has now slowed down quite a bit and I really wouldn't expect much movement for the Lions anymore. There's always the chance of signing someone out there, but none of a big impact will come in as quite frankly, none of those type of players are unsigned.