The Detroit Lions are experiencing many new things this offseason. The biggest change is an almost brand-new coaching staff.
The Lions have already hired several new coaches and everyone is wondering what life is going to be like with these guys at the helm. Everyone is also wondering who they could bring with them from their previous team.
Any time a coach leaves a team, you wonder which free agents could wind up with them because they liked playing under them. We examined each coach’s history and the free agents looking for new teams this year, and we found seven guys the Lions could bring in with their new coaches.
John Morton
WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey
Anytime I ask someone in Denver about John Morton or hear someone explain Morton’s time there, it always includes the work he did with the receivers there. He spent a lot of time with those guys and that could wind up with the Lions bringing in another former big-bodied Broncos receiver to possibly take that WR3 spot.
He might have “lil” in his name, but this guy is not small. Humphrey is a big 6-foot-4, 225-pound receiver who can muscle out a lot of the smaller corners in the league. He hasn’t taken the league by storm or anything at this time, but Detroit could present an opportunity for him to get unburied on the depth chart.
QB Zach Wilson
Wrote about this one earlier in the week. If the Lions don’t see a future with Hendon Hooker, Wilson is someone who could come in and get a chance to impress at camp. Frankly, even if they do stick with Hooker, bringing in Wilson this summer is worth it to see what he can do in a good situation with guys that have rebuilt a quarterback into an MVP-level player.
Kacy Rodgers
Edge Anthony Nelson
You’d love to say that the Lions could get Vita Vea or Calijah Kancey or something like that, but there just isn’t a lot coming to the market from the Bucs defensive line. Nelson is still a good depth piece for this team and as we’ve seen, they definitely need depth on this defensive line. He’s good for at least four sacks a year.
Bruce Gradkowski
WR Hakeem Butler
This is Gradkowski’s first NFL coaching job so there’s not a lot out there that he can bring in free agency. The one guy that is intriguing is the receiver he helped win the UFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award last spring. Butler has the worst luck in the NFL and I’m willing to bet that if he stopped signing with teams that don’t really need receivers, he would have a better shot at making a 53-man roster. The Lions could be that team.
David Shaw
CB Paulson Adebo
I’ve already seen a ton of Lions fans hoping for this one to happen for the Lions. The future is uncertain for Carlton Davis and here is an opportunity to get younger at the position and get a guy whose arrow is moving up in the league right now.
Adebo played for Shaw at Stanford and Shaw helped him become one of the best corners in the 2021 class. He could help recruit Adebo to Detroit.
QB Davis Mills
Thinking about backup quarterbacks again. Mills worked with Shaw at Stanford and could be looking to work with him again in Detroit. Mills is not going to blow any teams away, but he’s shown in his career that he can be a decent backup that can help you win some games.