Notes: How does Harrison’s departure affect the Lions offseason?

Now that the Lions have moved on from Damon Harrison Sr., analysis of the consequences for the 2020 offseason are rolling in. Lions Wire’s Erik Schlitt posted a breakdown of the salary cap effects of the release.

While the move does open additional cap room for 2020 to do things like extend former All-Pro cornerbacks, the loss of Harrison punches a massive hole in the middle of the defensive line depth chart.

In the eyes of the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett, defensive line is “clearly the biggest need at this point.” Whether the Lions address the nose tackle position in free agency or the draft, there are good options. Should they decide to go after a veteran free agent, basically the entire Pride of Detroit staff has thrown in with Houston’s D.J. Reader. There is a lot to like about the 25-year old former fifth-round pick, who according to Lions Wire’s Schlitt, would be “a perfect fit for this scheme.”

As for the draft, remember Auburn’s Derrick Brown? Before mock draft projections converged on Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah in mid-February, Brown was actually garnering about a third of the mock Detroit first-round picks near the end of January. Given yesterday’s news and the already rampant speculation of trade down scenarios with the Lions’ pick, expect mock draft projections to be thrown into chaos once more with Derrick Brown in the middle of it all.

And now, on to the rest of today’s Notes:

• Former Lions offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz wrote up some thoughts on the collective bargaining agreement fact sheet sent out by the NFL Players Association. Absolutely worth a read for anyone interested in what’s going on with the CBA.

• MLive’s Kyle Meinke noticed Russell Okung of the San Diego Los Angeles Chargers had something to say about the extended season in the CBA proposal. This is important because Okung is on the Executive Committee of the NFL Players Association.

Also, Richard Sherman from San Francisco is on the Executive Committee:

• There are 16 new drills at the NFL Scouting Combine, and NFL.com’s Nick Shook wrote up a short description of each one. RASmaster Kent Lee Platte pointed out that one of the defensive back drills is named after former Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.

• Depending on what happens with Danny Amendola this offseason (and Marvin Jones Jr., to be honest), the Lions may be in the market for a new wide receiver. If Kent’s Combine guide wasn’t enough to satisfy your craving for pass catching prospect information, Pro Football Network’s Brad Kelly has a fun article Frankensteining the perfect wideout from the available draftees:

• Anthony Broome over at the Michigan SBNation site Maize n Brew posted a two round mock draft (created pre-Snacks news) that features a trade at the top of the draft. Pride of Detroit gave the seal of approval to the outcome of this mock.

• Pretty interesting time lapse graph by Sports Info Solutions’ Bryce Rossler: