| 06 September 2009
I stepped away from the laptop for the afternoon, as it is a holiday weekend after all, expecting to read about a few roster adjustments later in the evening.
Turns out, I was amazed by the sheer amount of moves the Lions made today.
Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz made good use of their having "dibs" on any released players. The Lions made a trade, waived 3 players, picked up 4 more players who had been released by other teams on Saturday and, in their spare time, named their practice squad.
Busy day in Allen Park, to say the very least.
Lets start with the released players, as reported by Mlive's Killer Kowalski.
It's a sad day here at TWFE HQ, as I can no longer use the following graphic:
At least I can still use this picture...
Yes, Cletis Gordon the slack jawed corner has met the Turk. Gol' durn it, them sum bitches! Think there's any chance the Lions sign someone named Apu, Bumblebee Man or Comic Book Guy?
In more uplifting news for Lions fans, another of Matt Millen's draft reaches, 2007 2nd round draft pick DE Ikaika Alama-Francis, met his football doom this afternoon. The Lions wisely decided to cut ties with another remnant of the 0-16 debacle.
Alma-Francis was a poor man's Kalimba Edwards, another of Millen's oddly named 2nd round reaches who failed to pan out. At least the Lions knew when to cut ties with the under performing Alma-Francis, unlike Edwards, who somehow got a multi-million dollar contract extension out of Millen. Talk about the bad old days...
Also waived today was WR Adam Jennings, which means nothing in the NFL scheme of things. Jennings made the team testerday, but was little more than a roster placeholder while the Lions' front office scoured the waived player list for better talent. Such is life in the business known as the NFL.
Moving on to the trade, here's John Niyo of the Detroit News:
The Lions traded quarterback Kevin O'Connell, who was claimed off waivers from New England last week, to the New York Jets for an undisclosed draft pick on Sunday, the NFL Network reported.
The Jets were one of three other teams that put in a waiver claim for O'Connell last week, joining Cleveland and Denver.
I have to admit this was a fairly slick move by Mayhew. He parlayed a waiver claim into a draft pick. Not bad a result at all, considering O'Connell had no future in Detroit.This move means odds are good Drew Stanton is going to be back from knee surgery much sooner than later.
Lets head back to the Killer for the gist on the Lions new return man, former Raven WR Yamon Figurs:
According to the National Football Post, the Detroit Lions have claimed return specialist Yamon Figurs off the waiver wire.
Figurs, who returned a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the same season with the Baltimore Ravens, was released on Saturday.
The Lions likely made the move because of their disappointment in rookie third-round pick Derrick Williams, who was drafted to add a boost to the return game.
So much for Williams fixing what ails the return game. Then again, even though he failed to catch a punt cleanly, Williams couldn't "FIRE KWAN!" either. What I am happy to see is the Lions signing a solid, speedy return man, something they've laked since Eddie Drummond had his All-Pro season back in 2004.Thank goodness we'll now see return men be asked to do more than not drop the ball.
As for Figurs, he's listed as a WR, but has all of 2 catches for his career (though 1 was for a TD). He's strictly a return specialist.
The Killer also has info on one of the new Lions cornerbacks, former Viking CB Marcus McCauley:
McCauley is entering his third season in the NFL and played the previous two seasons with Minnesota, starting a total of 10 games.
McCauley, a third-round pick in 2007, started nine games for the Vikings in his rookie season. He has yet to intercept a pass during his NFL career.
I'd still rather have Cletis Gordon the slack jawed corner around so I can riff on The Simpsons, but McCauley is a young NFL CB who is more talented than a few of the Lions who received far too much playing time last season. Anyone miss Ramzee Robinson? Didn't think so...
Here's Niyo again in regard to the final 2 waiver pickups of the day, former Bills DE Copeland Bryan and Seahawks CB Kevin Hobbs:
The two vacant roster spots were filled by two other waiver claims: Bills DE Copeland Bryan (you probably noticed him scooping up a fumble against the Lions Thursday night) and Seahawks CB Kevin Hobbs.
Both guys add much-needed depth, and I think Bryan can help this team. He had a pretty good showing in preseason games, with a couple sacks and two fumble recoveries to show for it.
What Niyo said. They are depth guys, with Bryan having more potential to immediately contribute when you look at the Lions' lack of defensive line depth, let alone their lack of talent.
Finally, the Lions placed 7 players on their practice squad. It includes all of the 7th round draft picks who were cut yesterday. Here's the scoop, straight from the Lions' press release:
Seven players were signed today by the Lions to the team’s practice squad, including: WR John Broussard (San Jose State), TE Carson Butler (Michigan), RB Tristan Davis (Auburn), LB Zack Follett (California), C Dan Gerberry (Ball State), TE Dan Gronkowski (Maryland) and T Lydon Murtha (Nebraska).
Glad to see several rookies who showed flashes during the exhibition season getting a shot to stick in the NFL. This also means every Lions draft pick made the team, in one way or another. That's good to see.
Remember, we should consider the Lions 53 man roster in a state of constant flux. Who we see on the roster tonight may not be who we see tomorrow, let alone in New Orleans on the 13th. I wholly expect the Lions to continue to be extremely aggressive in evaluating waiver wire wonders, looking to upgrade every position.
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