| 19 April 2010
It's a done deal. The Lions will be drafting a linebacker in the first 2 days of the NFL draft.
Why?
Via Killer Kowalski at Mlive, as first reported by the 4 Letter's Adam Schefter in a tweet:
The Detroit Lions have shipped linebacker Ernie Sims to the Philadelphia Eagles, who will trade a fifth-round draft pick to the Denver Broncos, who will then send veteran tight end Tony Scheffler (and a seventh-round pick) to the Lions.
First off, I'm not at all heartbroken Ernie Sims is no longer a Lion. For those of you upset over losing the former 1st round pick, tell me exactly when Sims made any sort of play on defense. Over the past couple of seasons, Sims' play declined to the point the Lions felt he was expendable. He was drafted to play in a Tampa Two defense, and was a fish out of water when Jim Schwartz and Gunther Cunningham took over last year.
The retirement of Casey Fitzsimmons is playing into this deal as well. Before trading for Scheffer, the Lions were lacking depth at the position. Taking Pettigrew's knee into consideration, the only healthy TE with NFL starting experience on their roster was Will Heller.
But this trade does raise a multitude of questions...and possible answers.
1. Is Brandon Pettigrew's rehab from ACL surgery going slower than originally expected? Supposedly Pettigrew is doing fine, but it never hurts to have a fallback.
2. Do the Lions have a linebacker targeted in the 2nd or 3rd round of the draft on Friday? I think the answer to this question is...DUH. Of course they must have players in mind, otherwise Sims would still be a Lion.
3. Scheffler is a starting level talent, and so is a healthy Pettigrew. Are the Lions planning on using a 2 TE set as one of their primary options? Uh...YES. It'd be silly to trade for Scheffler, then not play him.
So as you can guess by the tone of this post, I like the deal overall. There's several reasons why.
In terms of pure football talent, the Lions win this trade big time. Tony Scheffler is a talented, big play tight end who will have a budding franchise QB throwing to him. In the Lions' current scheme, Ernie Sims is an average, at best, linebacker. Give me the playmaker every time.
Scheffler is a legit talent at TE, and giving Matthew Stafford more weapons is always a good thing. The upcoming draft is supposedly deep at the linebacker position, and the Lions should have their pick of some pretty damn good ones at the top of the 2nd round. I'm confident in Martin Mayhew's ability to find a linebacker or 2 in the draft, as he found a playmaking one in Deandre Levy in the 3rd round last year.
As for Ernie Sims, he was a disappointment, pure and simple. We were sold a bill of goods on the 9th overall pick of the 2006 draft. Not surprising when Matt Millen was the one doing both the drafting and selling.
With the trade of Sims, something else must be noted. Out of the Lions' 39 draft picks from 2002 to 2006, not a single one of Matt Millen's selections is still on the roster.
That is the mustachioed moron's legacy in Detroit, and why Martin Mayhew still has his work cut out for him.
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