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Detroit Lions News & Rumors

Jets Meet With C Travis Swanson

March 30th, 2018 at 2:50pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets announced that free agent center Travis Swanson visited with the team. To this point, Swanson has spent his entire four-year NFL career with the Lions.

Swanson has been the Lions’ full-time starter at center for the last three seasons. This marks his first reported visit of the free agency period, however, and his late-season concussion might have something to do with that. For what it’s worth, Swanson’s representatives say he didn’t actually suffer a concussion in 2017, despite what was on the injury report. Instead, they claim his symptoms were cause by a bad reaction to medicine he was given.

The 27-year-old has 42 games worth of starting experience, but he’d be a backup behind free agent pickup Spencer Long if he signs with the Jets. The Dolphins also expressed preliminary interest in Swanson earlier this month.

The Lions and Jets could effectively swap centers this offseason. Earlier this week, Detroit signed former Jet Wesley Johnson.

Lions Haven't Discussed Extension With Golden Tate

March 29th, 2018 at 11:12am CST by Ryan Posner

The Lions have yet to discuss an extension with wide receiver Golden Tate as he enters the final year of his deal, but GM Bob Quinn left the door open to that possibility.

Tate has at least 90 catches in all four of his seasons in Detroit and he has topped 1,000 yards receiving in each of those years except for 2015. Tate’s asking price could be higher than initially expected given the boom of the slot receiver market, but he won’t cost anywhere near as much as Jarvis Landry with his 30th birthday coming up in August. The Lions initially signed the 29-year-old to a five-year, $31MM deal back in 2014.

  • Sticking with the Lions, Quinn said he “hopes” Ezekiel Ansah signs his franchise tender prior to training camp and that he never gave the team any reason to believe he wouldn’t, via Birkett. Ansah is expected to play under a franchise of $17.14MM this season. Birkett also noted that the team had hoped Ansah and new head coach Matt Patricia would develop a relationship before they began working on any long-term deal. The former top-10 pick logged 12 sacks last season, which was the second-most in his five-year career.

Lions Sign C Wesley Johnson

March 29th, 2018 at 9:13am CST by Zachary Links

The Lions announced that they have signed center Wesley Johnson. He may wind up as the team’s new starter in the middle of the offensive line.

Last year’s starter, Travis Swanson, remains in free agent limbo. Things have been remarkably quiet around Swanson and it’s not clear if the Lions have expressed interest in re-signing him or if any team has reached out with serious interest.

Johnson entered the league a fifth-round pick of the Steelers in 2014. When he was cut by Pittsburgh, the Jets quickly jumped on him and he has been with the team ever since. Although he started 15 games for the Jets last year and made 24 starts in total, Gang Green opted to go in a different (and pricier) direction this month by signing former Redskins lineman Spencer Long.

As shown on Roster Resource, the Lions will start Taylor Decker at left tackle, T.J. Lang at right guard, and Ricky Wagner at right tackle. The Johnson signing should allow Graham Glasgow to remain at his natural position at left guard, though new addition Kenny Wiggins may be given an opportunity to battle for the top job.

Lions Host Jets OL Wesley Johnson

March 28th, 2018 at 3:43pm CST by Zachary Links

Jets center/guard Wesley Johnson is on a free agent visit with the Lions, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Johnson, a fifth round pick in 2014, has 24 starts and 41 games in total to his credit. 

All of Johnson’s starts came at center, but his ability to play guard gives him additional value. Last year’s starting center, Travis Swanson, remains in free agent limbo, so that top role could be filled by Johnson.

For what it’s worth, the advanced metrics are not high on the Jets free agent. Last year, Johnson graded out as the second-worst qualified center in the league, per Pro Football Focus. Swanson didn’t fare much better, placing fifth from the bottom.

Lions To Sign TE Levine Toilolo

March 28th, 2018 at 1:07pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lions have signed veteran tight end Levine Toilolo to one-year deal, a source tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Toilolo spent the last five years with Falcons. 

The Lions have reinforced their tight end group after releasing starting tight end Eric Ebron earlier this month and allowing blocking specialist Darren Fells to leave in free agency. Toilolo and fellow free agent addition Luke Willson now lead the way at tight end for Detroit. 2017 draft pick Michael Roberts projects as their top TE in support.

The Lions also met with free agent tight ends Ed Dickson, Brent Celek, and Logan Paulsen this offseason, but Dickson and Paulsen have since signed elsewhere. Celek remains in free agency limbo, but it seems unlikely that Detroit will sign him after adding two other veteran TEs.

Lions Notes: Ebron, Ansah, Hankins

March 27th, 2018 at 6:41pm CST by Dallas Robinson
  • The Lions‘ decision to release Eric Ebron was strictly a financial call, general manager Bob Quinn told reporters, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Ebron had been scheduled to earn a base salary of $8.25MM in 2018, and that figure would have become fully guaranteed on the first day of the league year. Indeed, Ebron’s high salary also warded off any potential trade suitors, per Quinn, while Detroit never discussed an extension that would have reduced Ebron’s upcoming cap charge (Twitter link via Justin Rogers of the Detroit News). Ebron, a first-round pick in 2014, has subsequently inked a two-year, $13MM pact with the Colts.
  • Given that he’s currently in Ghana, Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah has no immediate plans to sign his franchise tag, per Birkett (Twitter link). However, Ansah does eventually plan to ink the tender and has no intention of dragging out the process. When he does eventually sign, Ansah will earn a fully guaranteed $17.143MM base salary for the 2018 campaign, and will have until July to hammer out a long-term extension with Detroit. Ansah finished the 2017 season with 12 sacks, 44 total tackles, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
  • Despite a previous report to the contrary, the Lions are not interested in free agent defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, tweets Birkett. Detroit has already upgraded its defensive tackle rotation by signing Sylvester Williams and Ricky Jean-Francois, but Hankins isn’t in the team’s plans.

Lions Sign LB Jonathan Freeny

March 26th, 2018 at 9:29am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Lions have signed free agent linebacker Jonathan Freeny, the club announced today.

Freeny, 28, should offer immediate scheme familiarity for the Lions, as he worked under new Detroit head coach Matt Patricia when both were employed by the Patriots from 2015-16. The Lions have already added several free agent linebackers this offseason, as signees Devon Kennard and Christian Jones will join a depth chart that also includes 2017 first-rounder Jarrad Davis, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Nick Bellore, and others.

Freeny saw action for the Patriots, Saints, and Ravens last season, and also enjoyed a brief non-playing stint on the Jaguars’ roster. While he’s become primarily a special-teamer, Freeny started seven games for New England as recently as 2015, so while he’ll likely begin his Lions tenure as a reserve, he has the upside to become a full-time fixture on the Detroit defense.

Before inking a deal with the Lions, Freeny also drew interest from New Orleans, which was open to re-signing the former undrafted free agent.

Contract Details: Burnett, Bodine, Williams

March 23rd, 2018 at 8:45pm CST by Ryan Posner

Let’s take a look at the most recent new contracts around the NFL:

AFC

NFC

13 Teams Watched Johnny Manziel At USD Pro Day

March 22nd, 2018 at 6:22pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel threw passes at Thursday’s University of San Diego pro day, and 14 NFL clubs were on hand to watch him perform, reports Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

The Bears, Browns, Chargers, Giants, Chiefs, Jets, Patriots, Raiders, Titans, Lions, Jaguars, Panthers and Buccaneers, were all present at today’s workout, per Williams. Of course, those clubs weren’t necessarily in town just to see Manziel, as USD had its own prospects on the field.

Manziel was thought to be interested in working out a deal to play in the Canadian Football League during the 2018 campaign, and was in fact offered a contract by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in January. However, Manziel and his team reportedly weren’t pleased with the terms of the pact, and he’s now scheduled to play in the upcoming Spring League. The former first-round pick is reportedly amenable to a minimum salary or a practice squad slot.

Manziel is still only 25 years old, but he hasn’t played in the NFL since the 2015 campaign. In eight career starts for the Browns, the former Heisman trophy winner completed 57% of his passes for 1,675 yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

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