Wednesday open thread: Should the Lions replace Taylor Decker in-house or with a free agent?

Now that we have had a full day to accept the reality that is Taylor Decker’s shoulder injury and subsequent surgery, it’s time to move forward as a fan base.

We don’t know how long the Detroit Lions will be without their premier left tackle, but shoulder + surgery is never a good combination. That means, for at least the next couple months, the Lions will have to proceed with someone else as their left tackle. The good news is that after next week’s minicamp, the Lions are off for over a month. Decker can rehab during that time and miss literally nothing.

But after hearing the news late on Tuesday that free-agent tackle Cyrus Kouandjio is visiting with the Lions, it’s very likely that Decker will miss at least a portion of training camp come late July.

So the Lions have some replacing to do, which leads us to today’s Question of the Day:

Should the Detroit Lions replace Taylor Decker with an in-house option, or should they sign a free agent?

My answer: The Lions should spend a little money on a free agent. Even if the Lions are fully committed to giving Joe Dahl, Corey Robinson or Cornelius Lucas the job, Detroit could use the depth right now. Considering that Robinson and T.J. Lang are still dealing with injuries, the Lions need some bodies if for no other reason than to take up reps during the remaining OTA practices, minicamp and training camp.

But the Lions should welcome any competition at left tackle, because their current in-house options aren’t exactly inspiring options. Robinson and Lucas have both played somewhat poorly in spot duty over the past few seasons, and Robinson has had a handful of his own injuries. Dahl was in the midst of being moved to the guard position before Decker’s injury and still faces an uphill battle with a much more complicated offense than his college days.

While there aren’t a ton of appealing options off the streets, the Lions are simply looking for a short-term replacement, not a franchise player. They should be able to get a somewhat talented option at a discounted rate at this point in free agency. Ideally, they’d pick a player up that could contend for the starting left tackle position, but wouldn’t break the bank if the Lions decided to go elsewhere during roster cuts.

Your turn.