Although the Lions were ousted in the first round of the playoffs, the club’s 9-7 season can largely be considered a success. Since the campaign ended, Detroit has announced that head coach Jim Caldwell will be retained, while the Lions will also bring back both coordinators — Jim Bob Cooter (offense) and Teryl Austin (defense) — despite each being linked to head coaching vacancies around the league.
Let’s take a quick look at the latest out of the Motor City:
- The Lions will aim to find talent through the free agent process, says general manager Bob Quinn, but the draft is still the primary way that Detroit will seek to procure players, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press details in a pair of articles. “I’m not opposed to free agency,” Quinn said. “I think you have to pick and choose your spots.” Armed with with roughly $41MM in cap space, the Lions will need to bolster a defense that dead last in DVOA in 2016 while also answering several questions on the offensive side of the ball.
- Offensive guard Larry Warford indicated that he’s likely to test free agency, and will likely be more valuable to other clubs than he is to the Lions, according to Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. Detroit boasts Laken Tomlinson and Graham Glasgow as potential options on the interior offensive line, meaning the Lions will be reticent to offer Warford a deal commensurate with his market value. Warford will compete with fellow guards Kevin Zeitler and T.J. Lang in free agency this March.
- The Lions are unlikely to retain both Warford and free agent offensive tackle Riley Reiff, as Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com writes. Reiff moved to the right side in 2016 following the first-round selection of fellow offensive tackle Taylor Decker, and graded as the league’s No. 48 tackle among 80 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. According to Rothstein, Reiff has given no indication as to whether he’s comfortable remaining at right tackle for the foreseeable future.
- In case you missed it, Detroit blocked quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan from taking at least one offensive coordinator interview this offseason.