Lions notes: Trey Flowers named ‘most significant upgrade’ in free agency

Oh, you thought we were done hyping the Trey Flowers addition in free agency? Heck no, it’s only been a week.

The latest NFL analyst to hype up the Detroit Lions’ biggest free agency signing is Ian Wharton of Bleacher Report. Wharton listed the top 10 “most significant upgrades’ in free agency, and the move to add Flowers came in at No. 1 on the list.

“He’s replacing the old and broken-down Ezekiel Ansah, who had just four sacks in limited action last year,” Wharton wrote. “Flowers has produced 21 over the last three seasons, but he’s constantly been in the backfield as a sack-opportunity creator for his teammates.”

As Wharton notes, Flowers’ pass rush is only part of his appeal. He’s also an excellent run defender, and considering just how good the Lions were at stopping the run towards the end of last season after Detroit added Damon Harrison Sr., Flowers could make this defense near impossible to run against.

(Though ignore the part where he suggested Kerry Hyder may benefit from his presence. I don’t think Flowers’ play in Detroit will affect Hyder, who is with the Cowboys now).

• Joique Bell may not be with the Lions anymore, but he’s still giving back to the Detroit community:

• Looking for more local draft content? Chris Burke of The Athletic has a new Lions big board (subscription required) and the Detroit Free Press just dropped their Mock Draft 2.0 (warning: slideshow).

• Former Lions receiver Nate Burleson weighed in on Detroit’s free agency haul on Tori Petry’s podcast this week. Listen to it here:

• Tuesday, Lions general manager Bob Quinn was on hand for the Alabama Pro day. Wednesday, he had moved to Georgia’s Pro Day.

• More contract terms are out, and Justin Rogers has the Lions with about $27.6 million in cap space, depending on the terms of Marcus Cooper’s re-signing:

• Former Lions cornerback Nevin Lawson is currently in Oakland visiting with the Raiders.

• Is this good? This seems good: