Despite the fact that Calvin Johnson missed some time due to injury in 2014, he and Golden Tate combined to grab 170 balls for the Lions. However, no other Detroit wide receiver exceeded Jeremy Ross‘ 24 receptions, so the team appears to be at least considering the possibility of taking a wideout early in the draft.
Today, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com, the club hosted Louisville’s DeVante Parker, who is viewed by many as the third-best receiver in this year’s class, behind only Kevin White and Amari Cooper. While we wait to see exactly how serious the Lions are about upgrading their receiving corps, let’s check in on a few more items out of Detroit…
- Per Twentyman, the Lions also hosted Arizona State defensive tackle Marcus Hardison for a pre-draft visit today.
- Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press explains why he doesn’t think it makes sense for the Lions to match George Johnson‘s three-year, $9MM offer sheet from the Buccaneers. As Birkett points out, if the Lions had really wanted to retain Johnson at that sort of price, they could’ve assigned him a second-round tender ($2.356MM) rather than a low-end tender ($1.542MM) last month, which would’ve limited the defensive end’s market and virtually guaranteed his return.
- Birkett also passes along a note on the Lions’ draft plans, tweeting that several people he has spoken to believe the team will select an offensive lineman with its first-round pick.
- Linebacker Brandon Copeland, who signed with the Lions following the veterans’ combine, received a $25K bonus from the team, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).