INDIANAPOLIS — The madness starts to become more public a week from today.
And the Detroit Lions, who already have made one of the bigger moves of the first stage of the offseason by franchise-tagging defensive end Ezekiel Ansah, should be part of the free agency fun. Detroit has somewhere between $27 million and $30 million in cap space for 2018, depending on which website you check.
That number will firm up when the 2018 cap becomes official (along with Ansah’s true franchise tag number), but it’s clear Detroit will have some room to chase at least a couple of the bigger-name free agents over the next few weeks.
General manager Bob Quinn has shown he has been willing to do that in the past, nabbing receiver Marvin Jones in 2016 and offensive linemen T.J. Lang and Rick Wagner last season. And as the next week unfolds and teams lock up the free agents they want to retain, an idea of who Detroit might go after could come into focus.
But before that happens, there were happenings at the combine worth noting. Here are some things picked up from a few days in the middle of Indiana last week.
The running back class is deep: Quinn praised the group of running backs at the combine during his session with the media, calling it “deep” and a “good-looking crew.” What stuck out to him is how many of the backs were good in pass protection, something that typically takes a little while to develop upon entering the NFL. That skill has been easier for Quinn to scout because more college teams have pass-first offenses, and he likes what he has seen.
Beyond Saquon Barkley, three potential Lions targets ran under 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash — Arizona State’s Kalen Ballage (4.46), LSU’s Derrius Guice (4.49) and San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny (4.46). Ballage and Georgia’s Nick Chubb appeared to test well all around and both could be available for Detroit in Round 2 along with Penny. Guice seems more likely to be a Round 1 selection.
How Quinn evaluates the running backs in the draft could make a difference in how hard he goes after one in free agency, where Carlos Hyde, Isaiah Crowell, Dion Lewis and LeGarrette Blount could be intriguing options depending on the role Quinn is looking to fill.
So that will be something to monitor.
“Like the good old days”: Based on how Quinn and new head coach Matt Patricia handled last month’s introductory media conference, it is not a surprise they’ve been by each other’s side throughout the combine. More than once wandering around Indianapolis, I spotted them together. And they’ve clearly formulated a plan for what they want to accomplish over the next two months.
“Matt and I have evaluated the roster and kind of dove in to free agency, I’d say the last week or so,” Quinn said. “Kind of going through guys that might fit what we’re trying to do. It’s been fun. It’s been like the good old days.”
Those days, of course, were in New England. And throughout Patricia’s first combine as a head coach — and really, his first everything as a head coach — he has had a sounding board he’s familiar with in Quinn. That should make his transition easier.
“To have someone that’s kind of next to me saying, ‘Hey, look, be alert for this or let’s be ready to go on this’ and kind of just pushing me along from that standpoint because he’s already been in the fire for the last couple years with it has been hugely helpful,” Patricia said. “So we kind of just fall right back into our normal routine and it’s like, you know, like he said, good old days, but like, time just kind of hasn’t really passed.”
That includes the Quinn-Patricia language of football — basically an understanding of how they see things — that has allowed the transition to be as smooth as possible.
Don’t expect restricted free agents to get tendered: This could change as free agents stay with their teams and markets get set for certain players, but based on conversations with various people at the combine, it doesn’t sound as if the Lions will tender offers to any of their four restricted free agents: receiver TJ Jones, defensive end/linebacker Brandon Copeland, running back Zach Zenner and offensive lineman Zac Kerin.
That doesn’t mean, though, that the Lions don’t want those players to return. They just would like to get them at a cheaper price than what the original tender number would be. Various sources indicated there is interest in bringing Jones, Copeland and Zenner back. The question is whether any of them think they can get a better deal in free agency.
There’s a good chance all three could, with Jones potentially being the most attractive, followed by Copeland and Zenner. Didn’t hear much either way on Kerin while at the combine. Remember, too, that Copeland, Kerin and Jones all are coming off season-ending injuries. Copeland is fully cleared (as we reported last week), which should help his attractiveness to the Lions and other teams.
Jones, Zenner and Copeland make sense for Detroit to bring back in different ways. Jones was the quintessential No. 3/No. 4 receiver for Detroit. He was reliable when put in the game, caught almost everything thrown to him and can be a returner in a pinch. Copeland has the versatility Patricia would love since he can play defensive end or outside linebacker and has special teams value as a bigger body. Zenner doesn’t have the statistics, but he was good in pass protection — a valuable trait — and is reliable for what he does. If the Lions are looking for a Rex Burkhead-type back, Zenner can fill that role as a backup who could come at a cheaper price.
It will be an interesting week or so to monitor what happens with these three.
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