Grading the Lions' Offseason So Far

The Detroit Lions needed to make over their entire roster after losing their last eight games in a lackluster 3-12-1 season, and the approach head coach Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn wanted to take was to repopulate the team with a bunch of former New England Patriots.

Detroit signed linebacker Jamie Collins and defensive tackle Danny Shelton to new contracts while trading for former New England safety Duron Harmon.

The Lions made some sneaky good signings elsewhere, including the additions of former Atlanta Falcons corner Desmond Trufant (to help replace Darius Slay) and backup quarterback Chase Daniel.

What brings the Lions' grade down a couple notches was the fact that they may have made the worst signing of the last few weeks when they brought in former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai, a guy with four starts at tackle in the last two years, to a five-year, $50 million deal with the intention of converting him to guard. Vaitai must have the greatest agent in history to have swung this deal.

The Vaitai deal, trading away their best player in Slay, getting rid of Damon Harrison, and letting the likes of Graham Glasgow and A'Shawn Robinson leave, makes Detroit's offseason look much less productive than it did at the outset.

The new additions are nice, but the Lions' offseason is firmly in the C+ range after they parted ways with some legitimate talent.