Looks like the Lions will have to get in line.
As Indianapolis remains a flurry of rumors for both the draft and the upcoming free agency period, one rumor could be particularly interesting to the Detroit Lions. According to Tony Pauline of Draft Analyst, the Miami Dolphins are front-runners to land potential edge free agent Trey Flowers.
This is notable for Lions fans, because Flowers would not only fill arguably the Lions’ biggest need, but his four years in New England make him an easy fit for head coach Matt Patricia’s defense in Detroit.
Of course, the Dolphins just hired former Patriots linebacker coach Brian Flores as their new head coach, so Flowers is just as good of a fit with the defense Flores is expected to bring to Miami.
This phenomenon—that the Patriots defense is spreading across the league as more New England assistants are hired elsewhere, therefore potentially making it harder for the Lions to land players of similar interest—was addressed by Lions general manager Bob Quinn, who seemed to brush off the concern.
“It’s something we kind of talk about,” Quinn said. “But we really can’t really control what they’re evaluating and what they think. And I think our system—Tennessee, for example, I’ve watched a lot of them over the course of the last year or so, and even when Mike (Vrabel) was in Houston, their defense is actually a lot different than ours. People might put the dots together that it might be similar, but there’s a lot differences that coach (Dean) Pees in Tennessee is doing differently than coach (Paul) Pasqualoni is doing in Detroit.”
Flowers is talented enough that he could fit into a lot of different systems, but it appears the Lions will have to work to land him if he’s one of their top targets.
- Speaking of free agent edge defenders, one more is off the market. Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham has re-signed with Philly.
The #Eagles and DE Brandon Graham have agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/EDyWuotJbQ
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 1, 2019
- Remember former Lions tight end Hakeem Valles? He announced his retirement this week at the young age of 26 years old.
- You probably remember former Lions general manager Matt Millen received a heart transplant in December, saving the former NFL linebacker’s life. ESPN was there to detail everything going on with Millen and will have a special devoted to his struggle to live. Here’s a preview of the segment, which will air on Sunday:
Story of Matt Millen, coming exclusively from the great @E60 team, including @JeremySchaap. Story runs Sunday, and it is well worth watching. pic.twitter.com/cKSegU2tNj
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 28, 2019
- Speaking of former Lions, ESPN’s Michael Rothstein has a really cool story about linebacker Brandon Copeland, who is using the offseason to help teach an “financial literacy” course at his alma mater.
- Though nothing is official yet, it looks like the 2019 NFL salary cap is going to be right around where initial estimates predicted it to be (maybe a tad lower):
An NFL source said the league believes the 2019 salary cap will be around $187 million with a ceiling of $190 million. The cap went up $10 million from $167 million to $177 million last year, so $187 million in '19 would be normal.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) March 1, 2019
- Chris Burke of The Athletic (subscription required) has an informative breakdown of what the coaches and GMs of the seven teams ahead of Detroit in the draft order said in their pressers at the NFL Combine and how it impacts the Lions.
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