Notes: Lions among top 5 in WAR added after Week 1 of free agency

Pro Football Focus continues to be a big fan of the Detroit Lions free agency moves in Week 1.

The analytics site listed the top five teams that added the most Wins Above Replacement (WAR) during free agency so far, and the Lions came in fourth on their list. Here’s how they describe their WAR metric:

For the sake of clarity, the wins above replacement figures mentioned below are from the last season a player played and are roughly the number of wins a team receives from their services above those of a street-level free agent acquisition. The higher the positive number, the more wins, the better the figure.

In regards to the Lions, Justin Coleman and Trey Flowers were PFF’s favorite signings. According to PFF, Flowers’ 77 pressures in 2018 were more than any Lions player has had since the site was established (2006). That includes the likes of Ndamukong Suh and Ezekiel Ansah. He adds “over a half win above replacement” to a Lions roster that obviously had a huge need on the edge.

Coleman gives like Lions an additional “near-third of a win above replacement” due to his back-to-back years with a coverage grade over 75.0.

Overall, only the Titans, Chargers and Jets had better free agency periods according to PFF’s metric, which is good news considering those are all AFC teams.

• Joey Harrington told a story on radio last week that makes the former Lions coaching staff look really, really bad. Listen:

• First-round defensive end prospect Montez Sweat tested positively for a heart condition at the NFL Combine. However, he was obviously cleared to participate in the event, and teams don’t appear too worried about his health.

• Despite the free agency haul last week, the Lions still have the third-worst Super Bowl odds for next year:

• The Scouting Academy has a pretty detailed scouting report for new Detroit Lions tight end Jesse James. The part that I found most interesting was the “scheme fit” they determined:

“A run heavy system where he can be used as an inline blocker and to beat Zone in the short to intermediate passing game.”

• Lions general manager Bob Quinn offered the following statement on Haloti Ngata’s retirement:

• Former Lions running back Ameer Abdullah is sticking around in the NFC North: the Vikings have re-signed Abdullah to an undisclosed deal.