Thursday open thread: Should the Lions go after Sam Shields?

Though free agency is still a month away, that doesn’t prevent the Detroit Lions from making moves. They can still obviously sign any of their players set to become free agents, and they can also sign any players that have been cut or waived from other teams before their contracts expired.

One such player that fits that latter example is former Packers cornerback Sam Shields, who announced to the world on Wednesday in an angry Instagram post that he had been released by Green Bay. Shields had been with the Packers for his entire seven-year career and still had another year on his contract. However, concussions have recently derailed his career. His most recent concussion—the fourth in his NFL career—caused him to miss 15 games in 2016. Even after the Packers season was over, head coach Mike McCarthy said that Shields had not yet passed through concussion protocol.

Still, Shields will have over six months to recuperate before the 2017 season begins and when healthy, Shields was one of the best cornerbacks in the league. So today’s Question of the Day is:

Should the Lions attempt to sign Sam Shields?

My answer: No. While the Lions could certainly use another cornerback to go alongside Darius Slay, there is just way too much risk involved with Shield’s concussion history. Shields has gone on to say that he believes he still can play in the league, and if that’s true, he would be an enormous steal for a team that took a chance on him. But that just seems very unlikely at this point. Lions fans are all too familiar with how quickly a concussion can end a career, as it did with Jahvid Best.

If a team does take a shot on Shields this offseason, it will likely come somewhat cheap, making him a low-risk, potentially high-reward option. But that’s still not the kind of move that will help this Lions team right now. They need a more sure thing than Shields. If I had to guess, Shields will probably choose to retire anyways.

Your turn.