NFL free agency is still going on, even with the primary focus on the upcoming 2024 NFL draft. The good folks at Bleacher Report recently picked one remaining free agent who can help each NFL team.
The suggestion for the Detroit Lions is an interesting one. Linebacker Zach Cunningham, who spent 2023 with the Philadelphia Eagles, gets the nod from analyst Matt Holder.
While Alex Anzalone had a good season in 2023, the Lions could use another option to line up alongside Anzalone. Derrick Barnes’ play was up and down for the majority of last year and Jack Campbell had a pedestrian rookie campaign.
While technically correct on all accounts, it belies the expected growth in Campbell’s game for Detroit in his second season. The Lions didn’t draft Campbell in the first round a year ago to need to have to bring in a relatively pedestrian veteran to start over him, and Anzalone is coming off his best season and is the leader of the defense. Cunningham’s hit-and-miss coverage and very high missed tackle rate are discouraging, and his lack of upside as a 29-year-old journeyman with little special teams offering–he hasn’t been a regular special teams player since 2020, his last full year in Houston–is counter to the Lions’ plans with their reserve linebackers.
Additionally, the Lions do have nice depth at LB in Malcolm Rodriguez and Jalen Reeves-Maybin. Cunningham wouldn’t be a bad addition at all, but he’s far less necessary for Detroit than several other free agents on the list.