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It’s safe to say that after the Detroit Lions have officially signed five new players to their roster that the first wave of free agency is over. They struck quick and they struck aggressively, filling some of their more pressing needs in the opening hours of the NFL tampering period. They have their pass rusher for the future, a young nickel corner, a rising tight end that could contend for the TE1 job, and some depth along the offensive line and secondary.
And while that’s a pretty impressive haul for the first couple days of free agency, the Lions are still a team with some massive needs and assets to fill them. But what should be their priority? Today’s Question of the Day is:
What is the Lions’ biggest need following the first wave of free agency?
My answer: I have it in between right guard and the second outside cornerback job, but since I’ve worked myself into a corner here, I’ll go CB2.
While I’m not really comfortable with Kenny Wiggins nor Oday Aboushi in a starting role, both have done it and been, at the very least, serviceable.
However, the current candidates to be the starting outside cornerback opposite Darius Slay are Teez Tabor and Mike Ford. Neither have shown they are anywhere near ready to take on that serious responsibility. The coaches can talk Tabor up all they want, but until I see actual evidence that he’s ready to take a significant step in his NFL career, I remain quite skeptical.
Some believe free agent addition Justin Coleman may be a candidate for the job. Coleman was evasive about his role with the team during his introductory press conference on Thursday, but the truth is the reason Coleman got a huge pay raise this offseason was because he thrived in the nickel role in Seattle. The Patriots may have used him mostly as an outside guy, but he barely cracked the defensive lineup in that role. Coleman is this team’s nickelback, and if the Lions decide otherwise, they’re making a mistake.
So that leaves a pretty significant hole on the Lions roster at CB2. The free agency market appears to be drying up on that front, so it’s starting to look like corner may be one of the team’s early draft targets unless an unforeseen signing or trade is coming.
Your turn.
Poll
What is the Lions’ biggest need after the first wave of free agency?
This poll is closed
-
6%
RB2
-
25%
RG
-
47%
CB2
-
2%
TE
-
13%
LB
-
1%
QB2
-
1%
S
-
2%
Other