It came out on Tuesday that linebacker Nick Barnett's time in Green Bay with the Packers is done. The Packers are reportedly going to try and trade Barnett, but he will simply be released if they are unable to deal him.
Assuming he hits the open market later this week, a number of teams are expected to be interested in Barnett. Will the Detroit Lions be one of them? Pro Football Focus looked at why he might or might not be a legitimate option for the Lions (via SideLion Report).
Why it will happen
The Lions have some holes at linebacker, and they need to fill them if defensive front is going to be much use at all. Barnett is an experienced MLB who would allow them to move settle on a position for DeAndre Levy by default. There’s also nothing quite like getting better by robbing your divisional rivals, and Barnett would get two chances a season to show the Packers they really should have kept him over AJ Hawk.
Why it won’t
The Lions might have better places to spend the money and potentially cheaper targets for their linebacker role (Keith Bullock is a name that comes up). He was shown the door because of dollars and it might be dollars that keeps him away from Detroit.
If the Lions are unable to sign someone like Stephen Tulloch and still have holes at linebacker come this weekend, I could certainly see Barnett emerging as an option for Detroit.