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Detroit Lions News & Rumors

Lions Release T.J. Lang

March 8th, 2019 at 11:08am CST by Zachary Links

On Friday, the Lions announced the release of guard T.J. Lang. The move will save the Lions $8.84MM against the cap and leave them with $2.67MM in dead money. By releasing him before March 16, they’ve also avoided having to pay him a $500K roster bonus. 

“We would like to personally thank T.J. Lang for his two seasons with the Lions. He represented everything you could want from a football player and team captain,” Lions GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia said in a joint statement. “We all publicly saw him perform on the field at a very high level, but what was seen in the building every day was a player who had great leadership, professionalism and passion for the game of football. It meant a lot for T.J. to play in his home city and we have the utmost respect for him as a man. We wish T.J. and his family all the best in the future.”

Indeed, Lang is regarded as one of the nicer guys in the NFL. He was also a heck of a lineman during his best years.

Lang spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Packers and started in all of his games from 2011-2016. He earned a Pro Bowl nod in his final year with the club and did the same in Year One with the Lions after signing a three-year, $28.5MM deal with the club. Unfortunately, a neck injury landed him on IR in November of 2018 and his football future remains murky.

Contract Details: Smith, Kelce, Johnson

March 7th, 2019 at 8:58pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Let’s take a look at the details of a few recently-signed contracts from around the NFL:

  • Donovan Smith, T (Buccaneers): Three years, $41.25MM. $27MM fully guaranteed. Guaranteed 2019 base salary of $7MM with a $5.5MM roster bonus. Guaranteed $14.5MM base salary in 2020. Non-guaranteed $14.25MM base salary in 2021. $5MM of 2019 salary deferred until 6/15/20. $3MM of 2020 salary deferred until 3/5/21. Deferrals have no impact on salary cap (Twitter link via Dan Graziano of ESPN.com).
  • Jason Kelce, C (Eagles): Extended through 2021. $7.57MM signing bonus. 2019 base salary reduced from $6.5MM to $930K. 2020 base salary reduced from $7MM to $1.5MM with a $2MM roster bonus. $500K playing time escalator available in 2020 for playing 90% of offensive snaps. 2021 base salary of $5.5MM (Twitter links via Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia).
  • Denzelle Good, OL (Raiders): Extended through 2019. One-year, $1.7MM. $500K signing bonus. $200K per-game roster bonuses. $100K workout bonus. $1.2MM available via playtime incentives (Twitter link via Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review Journal).
  • Lane Johnson, T (Eagles): Restructured contract. Created $8.2MM in cap space by converting $10.045MM of his 2019 base salary into a signing bonus. Base salary is now $805K (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). Added voidable years in 2022-23 (Twitter link via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer).
  • Mike Person, OL (49ers): Three years, $8.25MM. $2.45MM fully guaranteed. $1MM roster bonus, $1.45MM fully guaranteed 2019 base salary. $250K in per-game roster bonuses (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com).
  • Romeo Okwara, DE (Lions): Two years, $6.8MM. $2.705MM signing bonus. 2019 base salary of $720K fully guaranteed. $500 workout bonus in 2019 (Twitter link via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com).

Dwayne Allen Meeting With Lions, Dolphins

March 7th, 2019 at 6:41pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Free agent tight end Dwayne Allen‘s visit with the Lions has wrapped up, and he’s now on track to meet with the Dolphins, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Allen was released last Saturday by the Patriots, but a market has quickly developed for his services. The Ravens, already flush with tight end talent, met with Allen earlier this week, as did the Bills. Both the Dolphins and Lions employ former Patriots coordinators — Brian Flores and Matt Patricia, respectively — as head coaches, while former New England staffer Brian Daboll is Buffalo’s offensive play-caller.

Allen, 29, was once a relatively prolific receiving tight end during his run with the Colts, topping 50 targets and 25 reception in three of his five Indianapolis campaigns. Since being traded to the Patriots prior to the 2017 season, however, Allen has essentially become a sixth offensive lineman. In his two years in New England, Allen has managed only 26 total targets, and 22 of those looks came during his debut season with the Patriots. In 2018, Allen played 438 offensive snaps, but ran a route on only 128 of those plays.

Miami didn’t get much production out of its tight ends in 2018, as second-round rookie Mike Gesicki led the unit with 22 receptions. Gesicki will return next season, while Nick O’Leary and Durham Smythe are also under contract. A.J. Derby and MarQueis Gray, meanwhile, are each headed for unrestricted free agency.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/6/19

March 6th, 2019 at 7:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are today’s restricted free agent and exclusive-rights free agent tender decisions:

RFAs

Tendered at original-round level:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

Bills Hosting TE Dwayne Allen

March 6th, 2019 at 5:51pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Free agent tight end Dwayne Allen‘s tour has continued to Buffalo, where the Bills are hosting him today, tweets Josina Anderson of ESPN.com. If Allen leaves New York without a deal in hand, he’s expected to meet with the Lions.

Allen was released last Saturday by the Patriots, but a market has quickly developed for his services. The Ravens, already flush with tight end talent, met with Allen earlier this week, while the Dolphins have also been mentioned as a possible suitor in addition to Buffalo and Detroit. Both the Dolphins and Lions employ former Patriots coordinators — Brian Flores and Matt Patricia, respectively — as head coaches, while former New England staffer Brian Daboll is Buffalo’s offensive play-caller.

Allen, 29, was once a relatively prolific receiving tight end during his run with the Colts, topping 50 targets and 25 reception in three of his five Indianapolis campaigns. Since being traded to the Patriots prior to the 2017 season, however, Allen has essentially become a sixth offensive lineman. In his two years in New England, Allen has managed only 26 total targets, and 22 of those looks came during his debut season with the Patriots. In 2018, Allen played 438 offensive snaps, but ran a route on only 128 of those plays.

The Bills are devoid of established talent at the tight end position, having released their only experienced player at the position — Charles Clay — earlier this year. At present, Buffalo has only Jason Croom under contract, while fellow tight end Logan Thomas is a restricted free agent.

Lions Won’t Tender DL Kerry Hyder

March 4th, 2019 at 7:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lions will not tender defensive lineman Kerry Hyder, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Hyder had eight sacks two years ago, but the Lions will allow him to explore the open market as an unrestricted free agent. 

Hyder, 27, missed the entire 2017 season due to a torn Achilles and only appeared in seven games last season. With just one sack last year and a limited sample of work, it’s not surprising the Lions didn’t want to give him the lowest tender, which would’ve paid him $2.025MM next season. The Texas Tech product was an undrafted free agent back in 2014, and it took him a while to find his footing in the league.

He initially signed with the Jets, but was cut after his first preseason and signed to the practice squad. He then latched on with the Lions the following year, and spent most of the 2015 season on their practice squad. He made the 53-man roster in 2016, and came out of nowhere to rack up eight sacks. But the Achilles injury derailed what looked to be a promising career, and he fell out of favor with new coach Matt Patricia.

He was inactive most of the year, and recorded his only sack in Week 17. Fortunately for him he’s still relatively young, and thanks to the potential he showed in 2016, he should be able to find a new home relatively soon. With the Lions also unlikely to retain Ezekiel Ansah, their defensive line will look a lot different next year.

Four Teams Interested In Dwayne Allen

March 4th, 2019 at 6:07pm CST by Zachary Links

A market is already starting to take shape for Dwayne Allen. The Ravens, Bills, Dolphins, and Lions all have interest in meeting with the tight end, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 

Over the weekend, the Patriots parted ways with the 29-year-old, making him immediately available. The Patriots are open to bringing him back at a cheaper rate, but they might not get that opportunity given the early interest he is receiving.

Allen was set to enter the final year of his contract in 2019 with a base salary of $6.4MM. By cutting him, the Pats saved about $7.3MM in cap room, boosting their total cap space to roughly $25MM.

Allen spent the first six seasons of his career with the Colts before being dealt to the Patriots in 2017. After having compiled at least 350 receiving yards in three of his five healthy seasons, the 2012 third-rounder didn’t play as much of a role in the offense in New England.

In 29 games (16 starts), Allen only hauled in 13 receptions for 113 yards and one score. Allen also appeared in each of the Patriots’ six playoff games during that span, but he didn’t record a reception in those contests. While Allen has earned some recent praise for his blocking prowess, Pro Football Focus ranked him just 65th among 70 eligible tight ends in 2018.

Lions Agree To Deal With DE Romeo Okwara

March 1st, 2019 at 5:36pm CST by Micah Powell

The Lions have agreed to a two-year deal with defensive end Romeo Okwara, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweets. 

Pelissero notes the deal will pay more than a second-round RFA tender and has incentives on top of that. Had the two sides not come to an agreement, it was likely the team might have need to place a first-round tender on him to keep him off the market.

This was a big move for the Lions, who needed pass-rush help going into the offseason with defensive end Ezekiel Ansah testing free agency.

Undrafted after coming out of Notre Dame in 2016, Okwara caught on with the Giants and spent two years in New York as a reserve defensive lineman. Claimed off waivers from the Giants shortly before the 2018 season, Okwara impressed in his first taste of action with Detroit, starting 14 games and registering a career-high 7.5 sacks and 39 total tackles.

Lions Hire Kyle Caskey As RBs Coach

February 26th, 2019 at 10:09pm CST by Rory Parks
  • Former Bengals RBs coach Kyle Caskey will join the Lions in the same capacity, per Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network (via Twitter). It is a logical hire for Detroit, as Caskey did good work in his five years coaching Cincinnati’s running backs.

Quin Had Asked To Be Released Last Season

February 22nd, 2019 at 8:09pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg
  • The Lions released safety Glover Quin last week, and his run with Detroit apparently ended much sooner. Quin revealed in a recent podcast interview that he had actually asked the team to release him last offseason, shortly after the team hired Matt Patricia to be their coach, according to Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press. The Lions obviously declined, and kept Quin for this past season before cutting ties. Quin is 33 now and his play has been declining the past few years, but he’s still a serviceable player and should have no problem finding a new home.
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