The Lions have signed free agent guard T.J. Lang the club announced today. It’s reportedly a three-year deal worth $28.5MM that includes $19MM in guarantees. Lang said earlier today he was deciding between Detroit, Seattle, and Green Bay.
By adding Lang, the Lions have now completed a transformation on the right side of their offensive line. While Detroit lost both right tackle Riley Reiff (Vikings) and right guard Larry Warford (Saints) in free agency, the club has arguably upgraded at both spots by adding Lang and Ricky Wagner. The Lions’ front five — which ranked in the bottom half of the league in both adjusted line yards and adjusted sack rate in 2016 — now contains significant investments at multiple positions, including first-round picks at both tackle (Taylor Decker) and guard (Laken Tomlinson, who will likely act as a reserve).
Lang, 29, had spent the past eight seasons in Green Bay, having already agreed to one extension with the club back in 2012. A full-time starter since his third year in the league, Lang appeared in 119 games (94 starts) during his Packers tenure. In 2016, Lang graded as the No. 8 guard in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
Green Bay’s offensive line takes another hit with the defection of Lang to an NFC North rival, as the club already lost top reserve J.C. Tretter to the Browns earlier this week. Fellow All Pro guard Josh Sitton, meanwhile, was released prior to last season and, like Lang, is still playing in the division with the Bears. With Lang gone, 2016 second-round pick Jason Spriggs appears to be the favorite to over right guard for the Packers.
Lang was the last elite option left on the free agent market guard market, as Kevin Zeitler, Ronald Leary, and Warford had already landed new deals. Jahri Evans, John Jerry, Nick Mangold, and Tim Lelito are the best interior lineman who still remain unsigned.
Lang’s agent Mike McCartney first tweeted the news of the deal and its length. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) added the overall value and guarantees. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Gah freaking dang it.
I guess Lang wants to be home instead of winning the division and making the playoffs and blocking for the best QB in the NFL and having a chance at a supper bowl.
Supper bowl? Doesn’t sound that great to me
You never know. It might be a savory casserole served in a supper bowl.
Mmmmmm supper bowl
Best quarterback in the NFL u must b talking about Brady and the pats.Arron Rodgers is good but I’m sry bradys the goat there’s not even a debate about who the goat is anymore
You really think Brady is currently a better player than Rodgers? Please explain your logic if that’s the case.
One beat the Falcons and the other got destroyed by them
Lol yup^^^
Sure since your results based on playing one team is how players worth is determined. If that’s the case then Eli Manning was a better QB than Brady the year they went 18-1.
Austin if that is how you ananlyze and justify your position on the QB’s you should take a break from commenting and just listen and learn
i would say any football fan with even a tiny amount of intelligence would say Brady is better than Rodgers, now and always.
What is your reasoning behind this since most NFL experts and myself seems to lack intelligence. Would you please do us the favor and enlighten all of us.
“Most NFL experts” haha ok. It’s just the Green Bay ones who are ridiculous if they think Rodgers is better…
No one else thinks that
Do you prefer the analytical approach?
link to profootballfocus.com
Or the east coast biased media’s opinion?
link to espn.com
So if we are arguing strictly numbers Rodgers has 72 career INT to Brady 152, a passer rating of 104.1 to Brady 97.2, completion % of 65.1 to Brady’s 63.8. Brady has had more talent around him and a guy by the name of Belichick make him. Oh and since Brady has played 5 more season than Rodgers the total yards difference of 61,000 to 36,000 once the old man retires. Total TD’s are 456 to 297 in favor of Brady but if you take 30 TD over 5 more years for Rodgers TD’s are dead even. Oh and if you would like to get into rushing yards Brady would lose that too. You all can argue the numbers all you want and say “Brady has more super bowls” which he does. Only because he’s had better talent around him. Give Rodgers Belichick and the Patriots roster see what he does.
I stopped reading your post after you said Brady has been surrounded by more talent. He would’ve killed for a guy like Jordy to throw to
Surrounded by more talent doesn’t have to mean having one receiver. Pretty sure Rodgers would’ve killed for a TE like Gronk, a competent running game and a defense like the Patriots have.
How about what was being discussed during last season’s playoffs.
link to ftw.usatoday.com
Nick, I’ll make the same argument here that I did to all the homers here in NE when the MVP debate was happening: Aaron Rodgers almost single-handedly carries his team year after year after year after year. Brady had a top 10 rusher (yards) that lead the league in rushing TD’s in his offense, and the team looked just as strong with (healthy) Jimmy G running it as Brady. Big-picture, Tom Brady is the GOAT, it can’t be argued. But if you take the team and coach out of the picture and choose a QB right here, right now, you’d be nuts not to choose Rodgers.
Need a tissue or shall I leave the box?
Lol good one. Most overrated QB I the NFL more like it
Who do you think is better than him if he is soooo overrated? I’d love to see your list.
Past history. Don’t hate packer backer
Lol both teams made playoffs this year. Guarantee lions go farther than the packers this year.
Isn’t it a little early to be walking towards the edge when we still have $30MM in cap space to shore up the defense and add more depth not to mention seeing who both teams take in the draft?
That’s great. You can have all the cap u want but at this point only players you’ll sign or depth players no starters.
So the lions are better than the Packers after signing one offensive lineman? Talk to me when Stafford wins a playoff game. Oh and almost 10MM per year for Lang is a bit of an overpay.
Hightower, Poe, Zach Brown, Connor Barwin, Darrelle Revis, Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr, DeMarcus Ware, Darius Butler, Lardarius Webb, Corey Graham, Kevin Minter and Mychal Kendricks (via trade) are all players who are starting caliber in the league.
And those are just the ones who fill specific needs of the Packers.
slow down there. the lions have like no defense. they need to fix the defense before they make a run in the playoffs
GB doesn’t have a defense either
Oh Boy Not the Supper Bowl! Learn how to spell putz
Well that’s disappointing. Damn it. Not really surprising though, Ted doesn’t sign o-lineman over 30.
Maybe GB had concerns about Lang’s hip or its very possible Detroit simply overpaid to get him.
Or maybe they are high enough on Spriggs to let him walk similar to the Sitton/Lane situation last offseason.
Or maybe GB offer undervalued him while Detroit paid what he is worth while not overpaying
We won’t know until the contract details come out.
they gave Ricky Wagner 12 million at right tackle… yeah sure they know value
Get the facts straight buddy before you start spewing false info. They paid Wagner 9 a year
sorry pal, after I saw 17.5 fully guaranteed in yr 1 I guess I stopped caring about the rest of it… my bad
Yes the Lions know value. Stole Lang from Packers and got Wagner for much less then $12 million. Hat tip to the Lions
Packers have lost a lot this offseason if they don’t have a great draft Detroit is in place to take the Division. The draft has everything they need including a RB…Mixon
Lost a lot this offseason? So Lang/Hyde…..yet we added Bennett and Kendricks. To say we’ve lost a lot is a bit of an overstatement. If we add Barwin/House like many people are saying we will we came out ahead this offseason. I agree we need to draft well but if we fill the holes on the defensive side of the ball Detroit will be nowhere near us (like every year)
If … if … if …
Well, as its been said, IF the Queen had balls she’d be King
Pretty safe bet we use the 27MM we have left to spend on the defensive side of the ball. Can someone please tell me the last FA the Packers let walk that was relevant for another team? I’ll wait..
meh Casey Hayward, but the odds are skewed heavily in GBs favor
Ok T.J. Lang is the answer.
Can you tell me why it even matters what happened in the past?
I’ll wait …
It’s called proving the point Thompson knows what he’s doing when it comes to prioritizing who he keeps out of the Packers FA every year. A guy who played with the Packers as long as Lang did and we only offered him 6.5MM in guaranteed money? Doesn’t take a genius to see the Packers aren’t confident in him holding up
Not true As I remember it this past season it was the packers who had to do the catching up to the Lions. Now of course they won that Division but Detroit & Packers won’t be far off from each other. Vikings and Bears are pretty much out
Lol it took Stafford getting his throwinghl hand mangled for GB to win the division..
Good thing Rodgers can move, his line has been decimated. I’d be jacked at the front office if I was him.
Decimated?? they lost a backup center and their RG. sure it sucks to lose him, but Spriggs was drafter for just such a purpose. We’re going to be just fine. stop being so dramatic!
You can pretty much pencil in every backup as a starter for 2-3 games a year with this team.
Packers fans need to relax a bit.
Yes Lang was a good Pro Bowl level player, but he’s not exactly the motor that runs the offense. Sitton was another Pro Bowl level player, and they moved on just fine without him. They’ve already got a couple replacement options on the roster (plus they will likely add a few offensive linemen in the draft they will hope to develop).
The money Lang would have commanded could be better served going into the defense at this time in my opinion.
It’s not about one guy. They’ve let 2 elite OL go in a year’s time, and now our best OL is a guy who lead the team in penalties, and was top 3 in the league for holding penalties, for 3 years straight until this past season.
If you are referring to Bakhtiari he rated out as the best LT in the league this season. And now is signed to a bargain contract since we locked him up early. Both Sitton and Lang were pro bowl caliber players but when it comes to O linemen, the league usually is a couple years late in giving these guys credit and keeps giving them the accolades a coupes years past their peak. If anything positive can be said about Ted Thompson is he knows how to draft and develop OL and is knows when to let them go a year or two before the fall off production wise.
I’ll still be taking that with a grain of salt going into ’17–1 elite season doesn’t make an elite player (Hey Eddie). I’d love to be wrong about him, and I hope I am in the end, but as it stands now, this is a HUGE gamble. Especially with Rodgers’ window closing.
Ok Jesse but you were not saying that even a few hours ago. Not until he left.
What did I say before he left? I’ve said all along that I felt Lang was as good as gone. Would I think it benefits the Packers if he stuck around a few more years at a reasonable contract? Of course. But he was one of the top available guards on the market.. limited supply and high demand. Unless he was willing to take a steep discount (he doesn’t have to, shouldn’t be expected of him, but he could certainly be up for it), he was likely going to be too expensive for the Packers to retain. They simply have too many other needs at this time for him to be #1 priority.
Guys don’t worry, when Rodger retires in a few yrs, Packers will be at the bottom of the conference where they always belonged!
No one wants to hear about your delusional fantasies young man.
Do you realize over the last 25 years, the packers have one of the best records in the entire league?
They haven’t been the best team in the league very often in that span, but they’ve consistently been in the playoff hunt, and with the exception of the Patriots, that’s all anyone can ask for.
And the Patriots window is closing with Bill and Tom rather long in the tooth now.
Falling ass first into great QBs is the only thing GB has accomplished. And for the most part, the careers of those QBs have mainly been wasted because rightfully GB should of won more. GB desperately tried to trade Rodgers away on draft day, then took him assuming they could trade him, and then talked off the ear of half the GMs in the league while trying to unload him. If it wasn’t for Favre going weird and GB deciding to see if they actually have something in Rodgers, he wouldn’t of been in GB. Trying to get leverage over Favre his how Rodgers actually stayed a packer. It’s hard to say “well done” when all someone did was get lucky.
Spriggs takes over at RT, Bulaga kicks inside to guard. Packers will be just fine.
Or vice versa depending on how things play out in training camp.
A lot of miles and recent injuries: can’t blame the Packers for not wanting to invest mega dollars and Lang going for the money. Lions will still finish behind the Pack again. At least they can beat the Bears now.
Since when have the Lions had difficulties beating the bears? Lol. The bears have beaten GB more recently than the Lions. And if it wasn’t for miraculously good luck with Staffords throwing hand getting mangled, Lions win the division over the GB who had to play catchup nearly the whole season.
Congrats to Lang from a Packer fan. Does this mean that Don Barclay is our starting right guard? Yikes
now they have extra cap room go all in for patients LB Hightower
I think they will be OK with Springs,Murphy, Patrick and they will probably draft a OL and it’s easier to find a OG than an OT. and Barclay should not even be on the team he is one of the worst OL in the NFL.
I think the only reason he continues to stick around is because he can play all 5 positions on the line and is dirt cheap.
Another good signing for the Lions!
Lang is a good OG but 30 years old 9.5 million a year is over paying for Lang
We missed out. The Browns could have overpaid another OL. While letting Alex Mack walk.
The Secret Life of Alex Mack: he hated playing in Cleveland.
The Secret Life of all Browns: They all hate playing for the Browns.
I really need to move. My city is a garbage dump.
Congrats to T.J. Lang…the Packers and their fans (me included) will miss him greatly, but it’s a nice payoff for a guy who busted his ass for 8 years here and did a great job. I guess I can’t blame TT for not re-signing him at his age for that kind of money, however. Hopefully Jason Spriggs will prove to be a suitable replacement