mock offseason – Syndication Server

Lions mock offseason v3.0: Pre-combine edition

Exploring another offseason path Lions GM Brad Holmes can explore in roster building, free agency and the 2023 NFL draft

With the NFL scouting combine coming in a few short days and more players around the league finding their way to free agency before that period even begins in mid-March, it’s time to roll out the latest Detroit Lions mock offseason.

More than just a mock draft, the mock offseason incorporates internal roster moves and free agent signings and departures. It provides a more complete context for the decisions in the draft and free agency as they work in tandem to build up the Lions.

This edition goes heavier on the defensive spending in free agency, which allows for more draft capital to help keep the offense humming along for years to come.

Lions mock offseason v1.0: Kicking off the offseason options

Lions mock offseason v2.0: Post-Senior Bowl edition

A reminder that each of these mock offseasons represents a potential path Lions GM Brad Holmes and the team can follow, not a recommendation or endorsement of any course of action. It’s not a prediction either, just a look at how the Lions might approach the offseason.

Lions mock offseason v2.0: Post-Senior Bowl edition

The mock offseason covers not just a mock draft, but also personnel decisions on existing Lions free agents, potential roster cuts, outside free agent signings and the draft.

Now that the 2023 Senior Bowl and the slate of postseason exhibition games have ended, it’s time for the second installment of this year’s Detroit Lions mock offseason.

The mock offseason covers not just a mock draft, but also personnel decisions on existing Lions free agents, potential roster cuts, outside free agent signings and (of course) the draft.

Lions mock offseason v1.0: Kicking off the offseason options

As with last year’s series, each mock offseason represents a potential path Lions GM Brad Holmes and the team can follow, not a recommendation or endorsement of any course of action. It’s not a prediction either, just a look at how the Lions might approach the offseason.

Lions mock offseason v1.0: Kicking off the offseason options

Lions 2023 mock offseason v1.0: The first of many possible Detroit offseason paths covering free agency, roster cuts and the 2023 NFL draft projections

Back for another year, it’s time to kick off the Lions mock offseason series for 2023.

The mock offseason covers not just a mock draft, but also personnel decisions on existing Lions free agents, potential roster cuts, outside free agent signings and (of course) the draft.

Here’s an example of one of the mock offseason scenarios from last year, one that wound up nailing both Aidan Hutchinson and Jameson Williams to the Lions in the first round:

Lions mock offseason 4.0: Pre-combine edition

Mock offseason for Saints free agency, 3-round mock draft after dust begins to settle

The Deshaun Watson pursuit is over and now the Saints have a good chunk of change to spend. Here’s what they should do with it, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

After a week of courtship, the uncomfortable pursuit of Deshaun Watson is over. As Watson heads to Cleveland, the New Orleans Saints now have an inordinate amount of cap space with plenty of holes to fill and questions to answer. With in-house options still available at key positions and the free agent wide receiver market moving at a glacial pace, the Saints have a lot of opportunity in front of them.

With the first week of free agency behind them, there are a lot of high-value moves the Saints could make to help them build a contender in 2022. Here’s my mock offseason including in-house retention, outside free agents, and a three-round mock draft looking at what the Saints can do next now that we know which compensatory draft picks they have to work with. Let’s start with a review of their team needs:

Quarterback
Offensive tackle
Wide receiver
Defensive tackle
Offensive and defensive line depth
Running back depth
Tight end

And here is where we begin to address those needs:

Lions mock offseason v5.0: The ‘what I would do’ edition

The “What I Would Do” edition of the Lions mock offseason

Now that the league year is about to change and free agency signing kicks off shortly, it’s time for the final update to the Detroit Lions mock offseason.

This is the fifth edition in the series that pulls together potential paths of action for the Lions. It encompasses roster moves with existing players, free agents signings, trades and a full mock draft.

The Lions preemptively executed one of the moves that has been a fixture of the previous editions when they announced that EDGE Trey Flowers will be released in a cap-saving move.

Lions mock offseason 4.0: Pre-combine edition

Lions mock offseason v3.0: Presenting the QB of the future

Lions mock offseason v2.0: The one with the trades

Lions mock offseason for 2022, first edition

Unlike the previous four potential pathways, this one is focused on what I would do if I were Lions GM Brad Holmes. It is not intended to be predictive of what will actually happen in the coming weeks.

Lions mock offseason v2.0: The one with the trades

The second of several potential offseason paths for the Lions that includes free agency, three trades and the 2022 NFL draft

In the first edition of the Detroit Lions mock offseason, we played it pretty straight. There were no huge surprises in players being cut or re-signed, no wild free agent pipe dreams, no out-of-left-field projections in the draft.

Things change here in the second edition. Let’s have some fun!

As with the first edition, this is not a prediction of what will happen. It’s an idea of a pathway the Lions front office could choose to travel, a basic blueprint for a way to move the team (hopefully) forward. To be frank, there are moves included that I think are absurdly stupid, but NFL teams prove capable of that sort of decision-making all the time.

In this edition, there are three trades. One involves exporting a player, another brings in a splashy new face that directly impacts the draft and free agency plans, and the third happens during the mock draft.