Tag: bob quinn

Detroit Lions fire head coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn

Head coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn have been fired by the Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions repeated history. Years ago they fired Steve Mariucci after a Thanksgiving debacle. And on Saturday, the Lions cleaned house, firing Head Coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn after an embarrassing loss to the Houston Texans on national TV Thursday.

Patricia came to Detroit from the staff of Bill Belichick in New England. His run was nothing short of a disaster as he leaves with a 13-29-1 record.

The final stroke was a 41-25 loss to the 3-7 Houston Texans on Thanksgiving.

As for history repeating itself:

Mariucci was named the Detroit Lions’ 22nd head coach on Feb.4, 2003, and was fired on November 28, 2005. In his abbreviated three seasons in Detroit, he compiled a disappointing 15–28 (.349) record. The decision to fire Mariucci came after a 27–7 blowout loss on national television on Thanksgiving Day to the Atlanta Falcons.

Ty Johnson and the RB lesson Lions GM Bob Quinn refuses to learn

Lions GM has been adept at finding RB talent off the street but keeps overspending on RB draft picks anyway

Thursday spelled the end of Ty Johnson’s status on the Detroit Lions active roster. The second-year RB was waived to make room for safety Jayron Kearse, who was activated from the suspended list.

Johnson’s departure is the latest of the near-constant deck shuffling by the Lions at the running back position. It’s been one of Detroit GM Bob Quinn’s biggest follies, and it’s proof Quinn just isn’t learning from his own mistakes.

Johnson is the second running back the Lions have drafted in the last two years to get cut by the team in a little over a month. Fifth-round rookie Jason Huntley, who couldn’t beat out Ty Johnson in the competition between the two declared by Quinn when he drafted Huntley, is now in Philadelphia. He has played one snap all year, gaining one yard in a garbage-time carry.

The third RB Quinn drafted since 2019 is the most glaring example. D’Andre Swift was the No. 35 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s currently the third-string RB, playing just 60 snaps in three weeks. Yet that’s not an indictment of Swift’s talent or potential. Instead, it illustrates how Quinn has botched handling the RB position.

Kerryon Johnson, back healthy after a 2019 season where he missed half the year and didn’t play well when he was on the field, remains above Swift. As he probably should; Johnson was a second-round pick in 2018 and played very well as a rookie.

That’s two second-round picks in three drafts on running backs. Detroit remains a pass-heavy offense with Matthew Stafford at the helm, but Quinn continues to overspend draft capital on running backs.

In 2019, Detroit’s most effective runner was Bo Scarbrough. He was signed off the street thanks to a lengthy injury history and negligible skill in the passing game. Scarbrough is currently injured too, a status that helped lead Quinn to sign Adrian Peterson off the street after training camp ended.

That’s right. A future Hall-of-Fame RB was readily available for anyone to sign the week before the Week 1 kickoff. And Peterson has impressed — he’s still got “it”. He’s the lead back despite being 35 and barely practicing with his new teammates in a different offense.

Backs are always available. Carlos Hyde was still available a month after the draft before joining the Seahawks despite the fact he topped 1,000 rushing yards for the Texans in 2019. Frank Gore signed with the Jets after the draft. as did LeSean McCoy in Tampa Bay. Both were perfectly capable starting RBs in 2019, running for more yards per carry than Kerryon Johnson did. The Browns salvaged a very good player in Kareem Hunt after the Chiefs dumped him for his off-field issues, which is also how Peterson became available a few years back.

The NFL is littered with relative unknown RBs suddenly emerging as good starters. Take Raheem Mostert in San Francisco, a player cut by five different teams in a 12-month span before blowing up when given an opportunity. Austin Ekeler with the Chargers proved a better all-around back as an undrafted free agent than first-rounder Melvin Gordon. Kenyan Drake went from deep reserve on a bad Miami offense to effective starter in Arizona — he’s currently 7th in the league in rushing. This week’s Lions foe, the New Orleans Saints, plucked Vikings discard Latavius Murray off the street and he’s a very effective No. 2 RB…for little more guaranteed money than the Lions are paying Swift.

Detroit added Kerrith Whyte to the practice squad, effectively swapping him in for Jonathan Williams, yet another running back with starting experience plucked off the street over the summer. The Lions see enough in Whyte, who got 24 carries with the Steelers as a rookie, to keep him on the protected practice squad list every week.

This is where Quinn isn’t seeing the err of his own ways. He’s been effective at scouring the waiver wire and free agent market to pick up useful RB talent. But he continues to burn valuable draft capital to try and accomplish the same goal, and it’s not working. It’s a wildly inefficient allocation of draft resources for a team that sorely lacks depth at several more critical positions.

Quinn is guilty at fullback, too. In an offense where the fullback plays between 12 and 20 percent of the offensive snaps and touches the ball about once a month, he burned a 2018 draft pick on Nick Bawden. Nothing against Bawden, though he didn’t play well in 2019, but linebacker Jason Cabinda switched from defense to offense and in less than a month pushed Bawden off the roster.

The dichotomy of Quinn and the Lions being able to find effective RB talent from the outside, but still overspending draft capital for the very same — at best — outcomes makes no sense. Yet that’s exactly what Quinn continues to do, without fail. That’s a big fail for the Lions GM.

EDGE Jabaal Sheard is visiting the Detroit Lions

Adam Schefter is reporting that EDGE rusher Jabaal Sheard is visiting the Detroit Lions today.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that EDGE rusher Jabaal Sheard is visiting the Detroit Lions today.

“Sheard, who has been waiting for the right opportunity and deal, is visiting with the Lions for a potential reunion in Detroit with HC Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn,” Schefter said per source. “They all won a Super Bowl together in New England.” 

Sheard (6-3, 268) was originally selected in the second round of the 2011 draft by the Browns and started all four of his years in Cleveland. He joined the Patriots for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, then went on to join the Indianapolis Colts for the next three years before entering free agency.

In 2017, Sheard played outside linebacker — similar to the Lions JACK position — and registered 5.5 sacks. In 2018, the Colts switched to a 43 scheme, and Sheard shifted to defensive end, registering 5.5 and 4.5 sacks the last two years.

If the Lions were to bring in Sheard, he would shift around different spots on the defensive front, likely ranging between JACK and the 4i-technique, in a similar way the Lions deployed Austin Bryant last season.

Matt Patricia shoots down report that he didn’t want to draft Jeff Okudah

Patricia vehemently denied the anonymous report

The cohesion between Detroit Lions GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia came into question with a conveniently timed rumor that there was dissent between the two. The allegation was that Patricia didn’t want the Lions to use the No. 3 overall pick on cornerback Jeff Okudah in the 2020 NFL Draft, but Quinn overruled him and took the Ohio state CB anyway.

This came directly on the heels of Okudah’s NFL debut, which did not go well for him or his Lions teammates. Okudah had a rough outing in Green Bay, giving up several completions and struggling to stick with Packers WR Davante Adams on some route releases.

Patricia flatly denied there was any dissension in the Lions draft room. He was asked about the notion that he preferred Auburn DT or Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons over Okudah.

A clearly agitated Patricia responded with a definite denial of the sourceless report,

“We usually don’t talk about any of that stuff. We like to keep that stuff internal, but since that is so blatantly not even close to true, I would like to just make sure that – that is not a true statement at all.”

Our take

It’s perfectly normal — and often beneficial — for differing opinions to get hashed on in pre-draft discussions. Patricia might have indeed preferred another player or position, but the Lions braintrust all concluded that Okudah was the right pick. Having a coach and GM not seeing the same on draft prospects is universal across every professional team sport. As long as it doesn’t fracture publicly, and it hasn’t here, it’s much ado about nothing,

The timing of the rumor was clearly a deliberate effort to capitalize on Okudah’s rough start and the growing heat on Patricia’s coaching seat. Simmons was a popular prospect amongst the Lions fan base and many in the media as well, though the rumor ignores he’s also having serious struggles of his own on the Arizona Cardinals.

Bob Quinn, Matt Patricia make statements on Taylor Decker extension

Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia made statements on left tackle Taylor Decker’s contract extension.

On Tuesday the Detroit Lions and Taylor Decker agreed to a contract extension that would keep the left tackle in Detroit through the 2024 season.

This morning, coach Matt Patricia spoke about Decker at his morning press conference and had the following to say:

I’ve just seen so much growth in him over the last couple years in his ability to get better at the position, just be more consistent, his technique, his leadership is outstanding, the way that he approaches every single day. He’s just been a really consistent guy for us on the offensive line. I would say his overall football knowledge has just really increased with the different types of looks and protections, blitz packages that they see on the offensive line, the run game, just overall improvement by him each year.

I think he’s having a great camp; I think he’s working really hard. He’s been the same guy every day. I just couldn’t be any happier for him in general with his development as a player and obviously everything that goes along with that for his future.

I think he’s just an intricate part of what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to be about. Every day I get a chance to work with him (and) it’s been great. I’m really excited about that. I’m excited about all of it. But I would say that the improvement he’s made over the last couple years – and with the coaching changes and head coaching changes and all the rest of it, you just see the growth and development that he’s had.

You always want to do everything you can to raise your own and reward your own. Certainly, Taylor has done an awesome job for us.

Once the agreement became official, Quinn issued a statement:

Since the day we drafted him, Taylor has dedicated himself to our program and has developed into an important piece of our offense. As one of our team captains, he sets a great example for every player in our locker room. This extension is a reflection of all of Taylor’s hard work, and we are incredibly excited to come to this agreement and continue to work with Taylor for years to come. I also want to thank Taylor and his representatives for their work in making this extension a reality.

Lions sign Taylor Decker to a 6 year $85 M contract extension

The Detroit Lions have signed left tackle Taylor Decker to a massive six-year $85 million dollar contract extension per his agent.

The Detroit Lions have signed left tackle Taylor Decker to a massive six-year $85 million dollar contract extension per his agent AMDG Sports Maganagemt.

With a year left on his current deal, and a voidable sixth year worked in for salary cap purposes, the new money Decker is making $60 million in new money spread out over the four more years extending through the 2025 season.

This is a big win for both the Lions and Decker as it puts him in the Top-5 highest-paid on average for offensive tackles in the NFL, with the ninth most in guaranteed money.

Decker has steadily taken on a leadership role within the organization, stepping up on the field and in the locker room — including being one of four Lions’ player to speak out last Tuesday during the Lions’ social justice stand.

After a stellar rookie season, Decker’s labrum injury set him back during his sophomore season, but since then he has steadily improved and played his best football as a professional the back half of last season.

In training camp this season he has been remarkable and if his play carries over to the season, he will already have proven that investing Top-5 money at his position was a wise move by the organization.

Lions GM Bob Quinn discusses reasoning for choosing Patriots players in free agency

Detroit added three defensive players from the Patriots to their roster this offseason.

The Detroit Lions were ahead of the game this offseason when it came to preparing for the coronavirus pandemic.

Detroit nabbed three players that spent the 2019 season on the New England Patriots’ roster. With Lions head coach and former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia running the show, there was no mystery in the team signing these players. Jamie Collins, Danny Shelton and Duron Harmon will all play under Patricia in 2020.

But, was it intentional to grab players from New England?

Lions general manager Bob Quinn said the move was intentional, and it came from an intuitive approach. Quinn saw an unorthodox offseason coming and knew that the Lions wanted players who knew the system to an extent. All three of the aformentioned players spent time under Patricia’s command.

The Lions already have Trey Flowers, Danny Amendola and Justin Coleman — who have spent time with the three new players in New England. Detroit has a defense that’s loaded with former Patriots — will it be effective without Bill Belichick at the top? Time will tell on that.

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Building Bob Quinn’s 53-man roster: Defense

Examining Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn’s previous approaches to roster construction in order to project the 2020 53-man roster.

When putting together an NFL roster, it’s always good to have a blueprint to follow. For Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn, it is very clear that he sticks to his system.

I looked back at every roster of Quinn’s time at the helm of the Lions and broke down all of them by position and style of player to better understand his process of roster building.

Now that we’ve put together what Quinn’s offense will likely look like for Week 1, it’s time to predict the defense:

EDGE Rusher

Quinn’s defenses under both coach Matt Patricia and former-coach Jim Caldwell utilized two types of pass rushers. First, you have your prototypical defensive end. This player has a bigger frame and has their hand in the dirt at the line of scrimmage. Aside from pass-rushing, their job is to set the edge against the run.

The other type of player is the JACK linebacker, whose primary job is also to get to the quarterback, but could drop back in coverage if needed. This player is usually around the same height as the down defensive end but is generally slimmer and faster.

Quinn has more often than not kept five edge defenders on his rosters, but right now the Lions have just four. At defensive end, they have starter Trey Flowers and rotational pass rusher Romeo Okwara. At JACK, there is third-round draft pick Julian Okwara and second-year Austin Bryant. There are several other linebackers who can fill this role as well, but the younger Okwara brother and Bryant are likely to be solely used at this position.

Prediction: Flowers, Okwara, Okwara, Bryant

Interior Defensive Line

At defensive tackle, Quinn tries to keep three types of players in mind when building his 53-man rosters. In the middle of the line, there’s always a big-bodied, run-stuffing nose tackle. In years past, this has been the job of Damon Harrison. With Harrison gone, free agent signing Danny Shelton will assume the role. To back him up, John Penisini remains the only option with the release of Olive Sagapolu and John Atkins opting out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The next two types of players are the three-technique (3T) and five-technique (5T). The 5T role is a player that is usually a little undersized for the defensive tackle position and plays more like a big-bodied defensive end. In this case, Da’Shawn Hand appears to be the clear-cut starter there.

The 3T position lines up between the guard and center, and is your prototypical defensive tackle. Newly-signed Nick Williams will take on the starting role there.

Quinn’s tendencies with the defensive line point to him keeping five players at the defensive tackle position. Shelton and Penisini appear to be set as the respective starter and backup nose tackles. That means that behind Hand and Williams are several players vying for just one backup spot.

Frank Herron, Kevin Strong, and Kevin Wilkins all are young and inexperienced players who could play either spot. Strong may have the upper hand, as he has the most experience with the defense and flashed some serious potential as an undrafted rookie in 2019.

Prediction: Shelton, Hand, Williams, Penisini, Strong

Linebacker

Versatility is the name of the game when it comes to the linebacker position, and this group brings a lot of it.

At the top of the positional depth chart, we can lock in Jamie Collins, Jahlani Tavai, and Jarrad Davis. Quinn has never kept more than five linebackers on his roster with Patricia as coach, so the Lions will have some tough calls to makeover those final two spots.

On one hand, they have some veteran players who could be key contributors in several roles. Christian Jones, who received a two-year contract extension in November, would be the best fit as a veteran backup, but don’t count out Reggie Ragland, who turned his career around with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019.

Though those two would be beneficial to the defense for the 2020 season, we know that Quinn values a player’s ability to contribute on special teams as well.

Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who has been a career special teamer in Detroit, is reportedly having a stellar training camp as could find himself a rotational role on defense as well. Miles Killebrew, a former strong safety, is another key special teams player who has been able to stick around on the roster for his abilities as a gunner.

The Lions also have young players with plenty of upside such as Anthony Pittman, Jason Cabinda, and Elijah Lee, who could all get some reps on defense and help out on special teams. Detroit’s front office clearly sees something in Pittman, as he was stashed away on the practice squad for most of the 2019 season and then elevated to the active roster in Week 17. Cabinda has been working out at both linebacker and fullback during training camp, and Lee spent most of his career on San Francisco’s practice squad and could turn out to be a key special teams player.

Prediction: Collins, Tavai, Davis, Jones, Reeves-Maybin

Cornerback

After losing both of their starting outside cornerbacks from 2019 over the course of the offseason, the Lions drafted Jeff Okudah with their third-overall pick and signed free agent Desmond Trufant, a seven-year starter for the Atlanta Falcons. Add on Justin Coleman in the slot, and you’re looking at Detroit’s top three players at the position.

Behind them are Amani Oruwariye and Mike Ford; young, physical cornerbacks who have proven themselves as reserve players. Ford also has special teams experience, which helps his case for a roster spot even more. Veteran Darryl Roberts is also throwing his hat into the ring for a backup role after starting for the New York Jets in 2019.

Coming to Detroit alongside special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs is Tony McRae, who has been a standout in Cincinnati as a gunner on punt and kick returns. Detroit also brought back another key player on special teams, Dee Virgin.

Two of the aforementioned players will be the odd men out, as Detroit tends to have six cornerbacks on their roster.

Prediction: Okudah, Trufant, Coleman, Oruwariye, Ford, McRae

Safety

Ever since Patricia took over in Detroit, the Lions have seen an increase in multiple-safety sets and varied uses from the safety position. It is no longer as simple as having a free safety and strong safety, but instead looking at what unique skill set each individual player has for specific defensive situations.

Because of this, the Lions need to keep five safeties. Versatility and special teams contributions appear to be the biggest factors for who stays and who gets cut.

Detroit has a young and up-and-coming player in Tracy Walker as one of their starters, and they recently traded with the Patriots for Duron Harmon.

Behind them, Will Harris’s job seems secure as the primary backup and third safety.

So who will take the two open roster spots?

After a quietly good rookie season, C.J. Moore returns to Detroit, vying for a role on special teams. Last season, he was a stalwart in that role, playing 69 percent of the Lions’ special teams snaps.

Free agent acquisition Jayron Kearse, who will face a suspension for the first three weeks of the season, is another player who could contribute heavily on special teams.

Also in the mix are undrafted rookies Jalen Elliott and Bobby Price, who may be able to benefit from Kearse’s suspension.

Prediction: Walker, Harmon, Harris, Kearse, Moore

Michael Jackson adds to the growing list of Bob Quinn trades between the Lions and Patriots

Quinn hasn’t gone more than 10 months without making a trade with his former employer since coming to Detroit in January of 2016

My phone alerted me to an email a little after 4 p.m. on Sunday. I only saw a snippet of the subject in the preview.

“Lions trade CB Michael Jackson”

I didn’t see the rest of the subject or the body, but I knew instantly where Jackson was heading. Recent history dictates that if the Lions are going to make a trade, it’s with the New England Patriots. It’s what they do.

Prior to the Jackson trade, which brings back an undisclosed 2022 draft pick for a player the Lions were cutting, the last trade Detroit made was also with New England. That trade back in March brought safety Duron Harmon and the draft pick that became DL Jashon Cornell to Detroit, in exchange for a draft pick that wound up being traded back to Detroit by the Raiders in a package that became OG Logan Stenberg and RB Jason Huntley.

In June of last year, the Lions dealt TE Michael Roberts to the Patriots. That deal fell through when Roberts couldn’t pass a physical.

While Bob Quinn has made trades with other teams as well in his tenure as the team’s GM since 2016, he definitely has a thing for working deals with his former employer in New England.

May 2016 – The Lions sent a conditional 2017 seventh-round draft pick to New England for LB Jon Bostic. Bostic never played for the Lions so the pick remained with Detroit.

October 2016 – Detroit dealt LB Kyle Van Noy to New England along with a 2017 seventh-round pick in return for a 2017 sixth-round pick. The Lions used that pick on QB Brad Kaaya. New England traded the seventh-round pick in a swap of three picks that produced players who were all out of the league by the end of 2018.

April 2017 – A draft-day trade resulted in the Lions sending their third-round pick to the Patriots for a third-rounder and a fourth-rounder. Detroit’s acquired third-round pick became WR Kenny Golladay. The fourth-rounder was used to select LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin. The Patriots traded up to draft OT Antonio Garcia, who never made an NFL roster, not even as a third-round rookie.

Interestingly enough, the Patriots had acquired the pick Detroit used on Golladay from the Browns in a trade for … now-Lions LB Jamie Collins.

September 2017 – The Lions traded CB Johnson Bademosi to New England for a 2019 sixth-round pick. That pick got packaged by the Lions as part of a deal (with Minnesota) to move up in the 2019 draft and select S Will Harris in the third round. Talk about delayed gratification…

April 2018 – During the draft, the Lions dealt a second-round and fourth-round pick to New England to move up and select RB Kerryon Johnson earlier in the second round. New England traded away both the acquired picks, one to Chicago (WR Anthony Miller) and the other to Tampa Bay (S Jordan Whitehead). The Patriots have also since traded the player they draft with the pick they acquired from Tampa Bay, CB Duke Dawson.

April 2018 – Another draft-day deal saw the Lions send a 2019 third-round pick to New England for the Patriots’ fourth-round pick in 2018. The Lions drafted DE Da’Shawn Hand. As is their custom, the Patriots traded away the acquired pick for three other picks, of which they traded two and selected RB Damien Harris with the third.

That’s eight total trades between Quinn and the Patriots since March of 2016. Interestingly enough the Lions have come out net winners on all but one of them.

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Here is the Lions’ salary cap position heading into training camp

Examining where the Detroit Lions salary cap resides as they enter the 2020 training camp.

With the NFL and NFLPA reaching a resolution on the addendum to the CBA (collective bargaining agreement), there has been a lot of confusion surrounding the numbers publicized about the NFL’s salary cap.

In this piece, we will take what has changed, what has stayed the same, where the Lions sit entering training camp, and where they could be in the future.

2020

With regards to the 2020 salary cap, the above NFL and NFLPA addendum agreed to leave it unchanged at $198.2 million. The Lions, who have the fifth-most cap space in the league, sit with a comfortable $23 million in available space according to OverTheCap.com.

$23 million will allow general manager Bob Quinn and cap guru Mike Disner to take their time evaluating free agents, as well as determining which current players could receive contract extensions. So far we at Lions Wire have projected extensions for Kenny Golladay and Taylor Decker, while Matt Prater also remains a strong candidate for a new deal.

To get a better understanding of where the Lions are spending their money, we broke down all 89 player contracts (estimating Jashon Cornell’s contract as he has not yet signed his rookie deal) and then sectioned them off by position to determine how they were allocating funds.

While the current COVID-19 environment will ask the Lions to cut the roster down to 80 players during training camp, that will more than likely not impact the current roster space, as the cap only factors in the top-51 contracts. But, when the roster is cut to 53 players in September — with 16 on the practice squad — there will be some movement to the cap.

2021-2024

While it will be tempting to spend the $23 million during the 2020 season, there are also several reasons to stash that money away for the future, especially considering the league is expected to take a financial loss this season.

The salary cap is directly determined by the profit/loss of the league year prior, and with losses on the horizon due to the pandemic, the NFL and NFLPA have taken steps to soften the impact on future salary caps.

Instead of forcing 2021 alone to offset the loss, they agreed to spread out the loss over four years (through 2024), while also setting a cap floor of $175 million in 2021. By setting the floor for 2021, it will allow general managers the ability to begin planning for the future.

For the last decade, the salary cap has steadily risen and teams have structured contracts with this in mind, but with a potential drop of $23 million (from $198.2 to $175 million), some teams will have to make quick unplanned adjustments.

Currently, the Lions have $175 million invested in 44 players for the 2021 season — which would leave them with literally zero wiggle room — but with the potential to rollover 2020 cap, Quinn could move over much of the $23 million in available funds in order to create more room in 2021.

There are several ways to create more cap space — extensions, rework contracts, cuts — and we are a full football season away from seeing many of those moves, but as things stand today, the Lions would open up the 2021 offseason around 16th in the NFL in available funds.

Conclusion

The Lions are in good shape for 2020 and having $23 million available gives them some flexibility to make moves they determine necessary. But with potential roadblocks ahead in 2021-2024, don’t expect the Lions to risk their future and make any big moves unless the deal is too good to pass up.

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