Lions News

[El Axe]

49ers sign Brock Wright to a RFA contract. Lions have 5 days to match

[whatever_gong82]

Good paywall article from the News the other day. I forgot to post it, so here it is.

How Zeitler became Lions 'Plan A' at guard and why team feels O-line will be better


Justin Rogers
The Detroit News


Orlando, Fla. — Dating back to training camp last year, the Detroit Lions made a push to lock up guard Jonah Jackson with a long-term extension. It's fair to say there was a belief in the building it would get done even days before the start of free agency. But once he hit the open market, it became clear Jackson's price tag was going to be more than the Lions had budgeted to retain him.

Jackson, a 2021 Pro Bowler who started 57 games for the Lions during his four seasons with the franchise, landed a massive three-year, $51 million contract from the Los Angeles Rams on the first day of the negotiating window for free agents. The package included $34 million in guarantees.


That forced the Lions to pivot, and they quickly set their sights on Kevin Zeitler, a 12-year veteran who earned Pro Bowl recognition for the first time in his career in 2023. What better way to replace a Pro Bowler than with another Pro Bowler? Despite early contact with the top replacement target, it took almost a week for a deal to be consummated. The sides eventually came together on a one-year, $6 million agreement.


"He was somebody we were actually surprised he lasted as long as he did in free agency," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "We thought he was going to be gone early. We liked him from the get-go. It didn't work out with Jonah, but Zeitler was the guy if (Jonah left). So, we just kind of talked to him from the get-go, stayed in touch, and we were able to make it work out."


Zeitler had piqued general manager Brad Holmes' interest when the Lions played the Baltimore Ravens last season. In that 38-6 loss, the Ravens ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns, while preventing quarterback Lamar Jackson from being sacked.

"You never know when guys get to that age how long they’re going to last," Holmes said. "So, when it got to the end of the season, and really started diving into those targets, and looked at him again, I was like, 'Wow, no. He sustained that for the whole season.' He’s a guy that, he just fits like a glove for what we’re about. He plays the game how we want to play it. He fits the identity of what we’re all about.


Despite the lengthy effort to retain Jackson, Holmes said signing the combination of Graham Glasgow and Zeitler ultimately became plan A by the start of free agency. And while the inability to reach terms on a multi-year deal with the 27-year-old Jackson can be viewed as a long-term blow, which the team will have to navigate beyond this season, Campbell boldly proclaimed the short-term offensive line setup with Zeitler's inclusion could be better than ever.

"You're going to be hard-pressed to find a guy who has played as long as he has and been as consistent and as durable as he's been," Campbell said. "Between (center) Frank (Ragnow) and (right tackle) Penei (Sewell), he'll be a steady force in there, a consistent force. Really, we just became a really veteran group. A very smart, consistent group, in my mind, especially getting Graham back. Then we've got (Taylor) Decker over there at left tackle. I feel like we have not stepped back as an o-line; we've probably taken a step forward. That's exciting."


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

@Justin_Rogers

[whatever_gong82]

Paywall Article from yesterday's Freep.

Dan Campbell rewatched end of 49ers game, convinced Lions 'not going to break' in 2024


Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press




ORLANDO - For the first time since their season ended, Dan Campbell gathered his assistants last week for a group film session to watch the Detroit Lions' NFC championship game loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Campbell wasn't interested in reliving the first half of the game, when the Lions raced to a 24-7 lead and looked like they were on their way to the Super Bowl. But he watched every play of the second half, charting "a little bit of everything on what went wrong."



"Talk about ripping the Band-Aid off," Campbell said Tuesday at the NFL's annual spring meeting. "It was good."

The Lions dropped passes and lost fumbles and missed tackles and whiffed on blocks and passed on field goals in an epic second-half meltdown, and as Campbell digested the mistakes again, he came to the realization that "San Francisco willed that to happen."

"They had players that, man, they in critical moments, that quarterback made big plays, (Christian) McCaffrey made big plays, made a big catch. (Brandon) Aiyuk made a big catch," Campbell said. "And they willed those things to happen and that’s the next step for us."



Two months after the season ended in heartbreak, Campbell seemed re-energized about a third of the way through the offseason this week.

The Lions begin their formal offseason program April 15 and the draft is less than two weeks later in Detroit. There are Organized Team Activities in May and minicamp in June, and training camp is a little more than 100 days away, when the Lions will report, for the first time in a long time, as one of the Super Bowl favorites in the NFC.



Campbell said Tuesday the Chicago Bears are going to be "loaded and ready to go" and the Green Bay Packers will be dangerous again in a division that's "about to become very difficult" after nearly putting two teams in the NFC championship game last year.


But he also said the Lions have the best roster they've had in his four seasons as head coach and a group of players hardened by their battle scars.

"I’m very excited," Campbell said. "I really am. I can't wait to get started. And I know the staff's that way, too. I think, if anything, when you get over the licking your wounds a little bit and you really step back and take a look at it for what it is and where you can improve, you get really excited. I got really excited. So, I feel like every day I've just gotten more and more energy back and more and more desire. And I just, I feel like we're going to be battle-hardened and ready to go. Like, 'Man, that's the next one.' We got to get over that hill and we can do it. And I love that we've got something to shoot for and something to go get."



The Lions upgraded the two weakest areas of their defense this offseason, signing D.J. Reader and Marcus Davenport to bolster their defensive line and adding Carlton Davis (via trade) and Amik Robertson (as a free agent) to their secondary.



They signed guard Kevin Zeitler to fortify one of the best offensive lines in football and brought back a handful of their own free agents including guard Graham Glasgow and special teams ace Jalen Reeves-Maybin.

Mostly, though, the Lions will be counting on the nucleus they've built the past three years to get them over the hump.


"It's pretty special, because you've been with them in the highs and the lows, the inconsistencies to grow into what they're becoming and what they have become, and we've kind of all grown together," Campbell said. "But along the way, nobody ever lost hope, nobody ever got down, nobody ever thought we couldn't do this. And so, we've just kind of all grown together."

The Lions are working to keep the most important pieces of that nucleus together long-term, with contract extensions on the not-too-distant horizon for Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jared Goff. Penei Sewell should have a new deal before long, too, and Aidan Hutchinson has an extension coming later on down the road.



Campbell said the team will have difficult decisions to make eventually on who to keep and who to let go among "these guys we've invested in and been around for so long."


They still are in "a nice little window right now," though, he said, and rewatching the second half of the championship game reaffirmed they have everything they need to make a run.

"I think we’ve got to put a tremendous amount of stress on our players before the season gets here, starting in OTAs but then certainly in training camp a lot more than we have and just mold them and shape them and get them there," Campbell said. "But that experience is going to, that’ll play well to us. Because look, you’re either going to get better from it or you’ll just get worse because you’re broken. And I just, we’re not going to break, we’re just not. We got too good of guys, so it’s exciting."


Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

[Mainevent]

I thought about that and the first thing I thought of was integrating the letters artistically in the lion’s mane or tail if it was redesigned.

Yeah, helmet was the first thing that popped into my mind, and doing something with the logo makes a lot of sense.

[El Axe]

Looks like we'll probably lose Brock Wright. It's probably a fair deal for him, but I'm not sure I want to spend it given that we have Zylstra & Mitchell already.

[jaadam4]

Love Brock Wright but truthfully I’d prefer the Lions to draft another high caliber TE.

[maxw3ll]

Brock Wright has been clutch. Id say keep him. Does the dirty work so port can do his thing.

[chemiclord]

That's a lot of scratch for a TE2.

[Cody_Russell]

That’s a tough call about Wright. It’s too bad when it comes to the timing and the draft being a few weeks away.
I would lean towards being in favor of letting him walk. Middling TE2 that only receives about a third of the playing time. James Mitchell can project to take that role and there’s always the draft.

Never forget that awesome TD vs the Jets. Epic moment.

[El Axe]

I wonder whether part of the reason the 49ers made that offer is to hurt the Lions who they probably view as their top NFC opponent at this point.

[chemiclord]

I sincerely doubt the 49ers were thinking snagging away the Lions TE2 was going to do any significant harm to a rival.

My guess is that the Niners were looking for someone for their two-TE sets, and figured Wright was the best option available.

[CGVT]

I wonder whether part of the reason the 49ers made that offer is to hurt the Lions who they probably view as their top NFC opponent at this point.

They lost their blocking TE, Charlie Warner to Atlanta and that created a need. Wright fills that need and is probably a bigger receiving threat than Warner, but Warner was a solid special teamer as well

Charlie Warner's mother in law was my wife's roommate in college. They are still good friends and we have sort of followed his career since he graduated from Georgia. Warner's wife never liked San Fran and they jumped at a chance to come back to the south east opening the hole in SF's roster

[froot loops]

The Lions might want to pick up the kicker from the Michigan Panthers. The dude hadn't kicked a field goal since high school in 2017 but he just drilled a 64 harder to win the game. It would have been good from 70. Just a beautiful kick. He actually hit it twice because the BattleHawks iced him.

[wcfwtf]

The spirit of Detroit statue is rocking a blue jersey for the draft. I wonder if it may be the color of the New Jersey. I hope it is.

[chemiclord]

The Lions might want to pick up the kicker from the Michigan Panthers. The dude hadn't kicked a field goal since high school in 2017 but he just drilled a 64 harder to win the game. It would have been good from 70. Just a beautiful kick. He actually hit it twice because the BattleHawks iced him.

But why do that when we can have someone on the roster we don't trust from over 48? - Brad Holmes