tukafan21

Gronk is the best TE of all time, but he also played with Brady. Clarke was great, but had Peyton and in an era TE's didn't make crazy money. Kittle is great, but the two times he's made the SB, he was still on his rookie contract for one, and the other the 49ers had Purdy on a cheap rookie deal which help them build the rest of the roster. So again, it's not about not wanting an elite TE, of course it would be nice. But realistically, in today's NFL, unless that elite TE with a top end TE salary is on a team with a GOAT level QB and/or other serious cap savings (i.e. key players on rookie deals), then I think it's not a good use of cap space.

We have big bodied WRs and 3 TEs who all have potential and each bring something different to the table. I never saw the need to go out there and try and find a new starting TE. While it's nice to have a guy like McBride, Bowers, etc, I think a team's better use of the cap is by having TEs on rookie contracts or cheap vets, not having to pay elite TE money.

If we're still bad enough that Canales gets fired, especially if it's during the season, there is no way we could ever attract any HC worthy of the job if we told them they had to keep Bryce their first year. That would be 2 coaches he's gotten fired and 4 years of not performing up to par. I still say replace both of them next offseason. I like Canales the man and I think he's done an absolutely outstanding job at fixing our locker room issues, as it was really bad before he showed up. But I just don't see it from him with his in game decision making, I think he's held us back just as much as Bryce has, just in different ways. Canales was our Dan Campbell, the coach you hire to turn the franchises culture around for the HC after them to inherit and take to the next level. The difference was he had some elite coordinators early on and really let him focus on his "leader of men" role as opposed to the X's and O's that Canales does himself and it's turned out well for him.

Except it takes those QB's a few years to develop because they needed to learn the mental side of the game and have it catch up to their physical attributes. Bryce was supposed to be a QB savant who already had a fully developed mental side of the game and that was going to make up for his lack of physical ability. And his lack of NFL level QB physical traits has been clear as day to anyone who has watched him the last 3 years, mainly, he just doesn't have an NFL arm, he can't zip the ball into tight spaces or throw on a line down the field like is needed at this level.

Yes and no. My post was more or less pretending we hadn't picked up the option yet, as what his trade value would have been yesterday. But if anyone was going to trade for him with the hope that he took a step forward and could be their long term solution, they would be picking up the option after trading for him anyways (like we did with Darnold). So us having already picked it up wouldn't stop a team from trading for him if they thought they could turn him into their future guy. But yes, having picked up the option now makes him untouchable for any team hoping to use him as a backup this year. Before the option, I think his max value would be to a team like the Packers for a 6th or 7th to backup Love this year.

Nobody is giving up a 4th rounder for a backup QB And anyone who needs a starter badly enough to where Bryce would then be their starter, is such a bad team that they're not giving up a pick likely to be about pick 105ish overall, instead of just dealing with a bad QB situation for a season and then drafting one in a loaded QB draft next year. I'm looking through all the teams right now and can't think of a single one that would be willing to part with anything better than a 6th rounder. Barring injuries (and excluding the Panthers), there look to be 10 teams who don't know with 100% certainty who their starting QB will be in 2027... Dolphins, Jets, Browns, Steelers, Vikings, Colts, Saints, Falcons, Cardinals, and Rams. Of those 10... The Rams know it will be Stafford or Simpson. The Saints more than likely will be sticking with Shough unless he takes a huge step backwards. So neither are giving up any draft picks for Bryce right now, just wouldn't make sense for either. Down to 8 Given their current QB situation of having multiple QBs they already need to evaluate between this year, the Browns (Shedeur/Watson), Vikings (Kyler/JJ), Colts (Jones/Richardson/Leonard), and Falcons (Penix/Tua), wouldn't be giving up a 4th (or maybe any pick) to bring in another QB to muddy the waters even more. Down to 4 Dolphins just signed Willis and wouldn't want to bring in another small Alabama QB who has struggled after just dumping Tua instead of just rolling with Ewers as the backup. That then leaves the Steelers, Cardinals, and Jets left as it's clear none of them have any idea who their 2027 could be as of right now. But the Steelers would for sure rather just see what one of the 2 QB's they drafted in the last 2 drafts could become than give up a mid round pick for Bryce. Same goes for the Cardinals in taking Beck this past weekend. The Jets would be the most likely team to even consider taking him on with an eye for the future, but I think it seems very apparent right now given them rolling with Geno and now talk of bringing in Wilson to be his backup, they're punting on QB this year to draft someone next year, so why give up even a mid round pick for Bryce? Then there are a handful of teams that probably would give up a 6th or 7th to be their backup to an entrenched QB.

Really? You don't see why a team can't draft a QB in the 1st round while then starting their former #1 overall pick over them while on the last year of their deal? It puts the team in a TERRIBLE place no matter how the season goes. If Bryce sucks, you have to answer questions as to why he was still on the team to begin with, let alone starting over the rookie. If he's good, then you run into the situation the Vikings were in last offseason with sticking with the rookie contract or the the guy who just performed instead of said young QB. It's one thing when teams keep a vet around as a bridge QB, it's something entirely different when that QB is still only in their mid 20's and was taken #1 overall by that team. That just doesn't happen and not sure it ever has in NFL history before.

Yea, if we draft a QB in the 1st next year there is a literal 0% chance Bryce is on the roster for even OTA's, let alone by the time camp comes around

I'm from Michigan and have had this discussion with my Lions friends, and they all agree with me, they were never going to take Freeling over Miller. As, yes, you are correct, they could have left Sewell at RT and taken Freeling, but they are in a SB contention window right now. An OL with Freeling at LT and Sewell at RT is not as strong as Sewell at LT and Miller at RT would be for this upcoming season and likely at least next year as well. 5 years it could be looked back upon as a long term "mistake" to take Miller over Freeling, but for a franchise like the Lions, you can't worry about the long term when you have current SB aspirations. It's all about maximizing their current SB window over the next 1-3 years. And it's not about style, it's about day 1 readiness, and a lot of "experts" aren't even sure if Freeling is ready to play Week 1 yet at the position he's used to, let alone switching to a side he hasn't played before, but a career starting RT is going to be more than ready to fill that role for them Week 1. I'm 100% convinced that if our draft positioning was swapped, we'd have still taken Freeling, they'd have still taken Miller, and both teams would have got the OT that they preferred due to what each team needs right now and what their current realistic aspirations are for the 2026 season. We're in a position where we can let our drafted OT sit and learn for a bit, they needed a week 1 starter, for me that's where this discussion becomes very easy to understand why each team took the player they did.

Point being what? It doesn't matter why they have the hole at RT, it just matters that they have it and because they have it, they were always taking Miller over Freeling. Just like if we were ahead of them and both were on the board, we'd have also taken Freeling, and if Freeling was gone, I don't think we take Miller at all. Taking a career RT would have made zero sense for us

Lions were never going Freeling over Miller for the same reason we wouldn't have taken Miller had Freeling not been on the board. Miller is a career RT Lions have a hole at RT, we have a hole at LT. If we took Miller, it would have been for him to backup Moton until he retires and/or we release him, so the best case scenario is it would have been a wasted 1st round pick for at least 1, if not 2 years. At least Freeling has a shot at playing this year without injury ahead of him, he absolutely can win the LT job if he earns it, but Miller would have never supplanted Moton this year unless he got hurt.

I'll say the same thing this year that I said last year, wins and losses aren't important. The only important thing is coming to a decision on Bryce one way or the other. If he looks amazing but we find ways to lose, who cares we lost, we have our QB of the future. If he looks terrible but we find ways to win, who cares that we won, we have to replace him. And that's not me saying I don't want to see us win next year, just saying that wins/losses are secondary and far less important this season than coming to a 100% conclusion on what Bryce is for us. Having said that, the only way I'll be okay with giving him an extension instead of replacing him is if he is a borderline MVP candidate and at minimum, an unquestioned Top 10 QB in the league next year. Even just a season of slight improvement won't be enough for me, that's still not good enough to warrant a big extension, he has the team around him, he needs to show why he was the #1 overall pick, if not, good bye.

I think we go Theineman in this situation

Bryce Young. It really is as simple as that, if he can't improve, we will be worse next year even given the upgrades elsewhere. Frankly we got lucky in a number of our wins last year, if the Bryce plays the same as he did and we don't get those breaks, we're a 5-6 win team. 6 of our 8 wins were by just 3 points, another by 7 (agains the Jets), and then the Falcons blowout. It's very easy to see how this team goes backwards just on that alone, regression to the mean is a real thing when you have that many close games in one season.

Here's the thing, I like the draft we just had, and while a lot of what to like about it will be seen a few years down the line, we still basically need Hecht and Brazzell at minimum to be starters week 1, and hopefully Wheately and maybe Freeling as well. We were a sub .500 team last year and we're still not yet a contender, there is no way we can leave a draft with only one starter coming out of it, and that being a 2nd round NT. In reality, teams have 3 starting WRs now and Brazzell should be #3 over XL, as if he can't beat out XL coming out of camp, my expectations for him will drop from what they are right now. Hecht is going to have every opportunity to take that starting spot at Center and I hope/think he will do so. And Wheately just has to beat out Scott.