Wednesday open thread: Which Patriots free agents would you like the Lions to sign?

The Detroit Lions are going to be adding some new names to the team very shortly. Free agency begins in exactly a month, and considering Detroit has a considerable amount of cap space, the expectation is that they will be fairly active during that period.

It’s no guarantee that the Lions target any New England Patriots during free agency, but it would be silly for us to ignore the heightened likelihood. Both general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia are extremely familiar with many of the players on that roster, and both probably have some favorites in New England. Additionally, we’ve already seen plenty of former Patriots make their way over to the Lions roster before.

So today’s Question of the Day is:

Which of the Patriots’ free agents would you like to see signed in Detroit?

Here’s a look at the Patriots set to become unrestricted free agents at the beginning of the 2018 league year:

• LT Nate Solder
• CB Malcolm Butler
• RB Rex Burkhead
• CB Johnson Bademosi
• WR Matthew Slater
• T Cameron Fleming
• WR Danny Amendola
• RB Dion Lewis
• FS Nate Ebner
• RT LaAdrian Waddle
• DE/LB James Harrison
• DT Ricky Jean Francois
• RB Brandon Bolden
• DE Geno Grissom
• LB Marquis Flowers

My answer: There isn’t one guy that sticks out that I want to see the Lions pick. Malcolm Butler will come far too pricey and isn’t a huge area of need. Dion Lewis fits a position need, but his skill-set is a little too close to both Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick for me.

Only two players really stick out as potential pickups for the Lions, and both may not be for a starting role: linebacker Marquis Flowers and cornerback Johnson Bademosi.

Flowers enjoyed a breakout season in 2017, and he credits Matt Patricia for believing him. “I’ll never forgot, I was walking in the hallway and coach Matt Patricia came up to me and said, basically, to keep trying to get better and he likes me, believes in me and really believes I can help the team win,” Flowers told the Providence Journal.

For the Lions, Flowers would bring valuable knowledge working with Patricia, which could be huge considering the Lions’ current inexperienced stable of linebackers. He’ll also only be 26 by the start of the season, leaving him with plenty of productive years ahead of him. He wasn’t great in 2017, but he wasn’t that bad either. And that means he could also come cheap.

As for Bademosi, Detroit could be in the market for a special teamer in the secondary. Don Carey, too, is a free agent, and Carey turns 31 today. Bademosi, on the other hand, is only 27, and Bob Quinn is clearly a fan of his. Though the Lions traded him away at the beginning of the 2017 regular season, that was more the result of Detroit being overloaded in the secondary last year. With DJ Hayden, Don Carey, Tavon Wilson and Nevin Lawson all set to become free agents, the Lions could make room for Bademosi again this offseason.

Your turn.