I have to hand it to this new Detroit Lions regime. It’s full of surprises.
Actually, it’s more than surprise. It’s shock. I am shocked and I’m not afraid to admit it.
Chances are you’re a little shocked, too. Anyone out there who predicted the Lions would let Pro Bowl receiver Kenny Golladay walk in free agency and keep sack leader Romeo Okwara is either lying or selling something.
So, if nothing else, on the opening day of NFL free agency, Lions general manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell gave everyone a jolt.
The Golladay decision essentially came last week when the team decided not to use the franchise tag on him at the cost of a little less than $16 million. I wasn’t crazy about this decision for one simple reason: It’s not easy to draft and develop a Pro Bowl wide receiver or sign one in his prime.
I also don’t like letting go of a successful Lions draft pick developed within the franchise. Letting him just walk for what likely will be a 2022 third-round compensatory pick feels like poor value. The Lions should have mined more value out of him by either signing him to a new deal or tagging him and trading him to a receiver-needy contender at November’s trade deadline for certainly more than a third-rounder.
[ Wasted 2017 draft a big reason why Lions are in perpetual state of rebuild ]
But maybe Holmes tipped his hand on what he and the organization thought of Golladay all along when he told reporters March 2 that he simply saw promise in Golladay.
“Obviously,” Holmes said, “I don’t think there’s any debate that Kenny has shown the ability to be a No. 1 receiver in this league.”
Read that quote again, but this time pretend you’re Golladay. Before injuries cost you 11 games last season, you led the NFL with 11 touchdowns and had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. And a new, first-time GM is saying you’ve “shown the ability to be a No. 1 receiver.” Stings, doesn’t it?
Maybe the decision on Golladay was simply based on a new regime’s evaluation and thinking a player who turns 28 in November won’t be in his prime when the Lions are closer to winning in two, three or four years.
It’s also possible Holmes and Campbell didn’t see a culture fit with a player who went on Instagram to make a silly contract threat in October. When Campbell has made it a point to say several times the team doesn’t need a bunch of alpha males, it’s reasonable to think Golladay might not have been the ideal, selfless, team-first kind of player he wants.
Golladay’s Instagram post was immature and counterproductive because coach Matt Patricia wanted team players, probably a lot like this new regime. The problem is this new regime doesn’t know Golladay. I’ve been around him enough to believe he wouldn’t have been a problem in the locker room, even if he was frustrated with the tag. And, honestly, I don’t mind receivers being divas. The best seem to have at least a little of that quality.
But this felt like a message from the new regime about what it wants this team to be, and perhaps how it can get there. Finding a cheaper, albeit older, option in Tyrell Williams is one way. Finding receivers on the second or third day of the draft might be another.
Doing nothing about Golladay isn’t the worst move. But it’s an uninspired move compared to the way Holmes looted the Rams in the Matthew Stafford trade, in the kind of swindle you only see when an unscrupulous adult trades Baltic Avenue to a little kid for Boardwalk and Park Place.
LIVE UPDATES: NFL free agency rumor mill and transactions
As for Okwara, I can’t believe the Lions held on to him at a very reasonable cost of $39 million for three years, all of which will come in his prime playing years because he only turns 26 in June. Maybe he gave the Lions a hometown discount because he wanted to stick around and play with his brother, Julian. Or maybe it’s something else beyond money and maximizing market value.
In February, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said “we want to make sure we get the right guys, character guys.” He praised Okwara and Trey Flowers, and said both could excel in whatever shape the new “multiple” defense takes. Glenn said Okwara is a “pressure player” and made no secret of wanting him back without equivocation. No talk about potential and showing the ability to be a rush specialist.
“Every team in this league, every coach in this league wants a pressure player,” Glenn said. “So if he’ll be back, which we hope we’ll get a chance to get him back, we’re going to have him rushing the quarterback. That’s what he does best.”
I wrote a couple of years ago about Okwara’s fascination with typewriters and old-school mechanical devices. He’s a deep thinker and likes to learn how things work. His willingness to re-sign with the Lions says a lot about his trust in this regime. And this regime’s decision to sign Okwara — who along with Flowers provides the team with a great locker room presence — says a lot about the kind of players the team wants.
It’s still early in free agency, even though the Lions saw plenty of activity begin to shape their roster. They lost out on highly touted safety John Johnson, but made the right call letting Jamal Agnew leave and keeping Jalen Reeves-Maybin.
There are plenty of moves left to come in free agency. But is it too soon to say the Lions are giving us some sense of hope?
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.