While the Detroit Lions ultimately missed the playoffs, it’s hard to consider their 2022 season as anything less than a success. Now general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell will continue looking for more pieces that can help the Lions push for a spot in the postseason in 2023 over the offseason.
The Lions start off with plenty of options to improve the roster, thanks to possessing both the sixth and 18th overall picks in the NFL draft. In addition to having a total of eight draft picks, including five in the top 100 selections, the Lions also have just under $16 million to spend in free agency, which means they can afford to be active on the open market.
Knowing the Lions are a good bet to continue looking for every possible avenue to continue their ascension up the ranks in the NFC North, it wouldn’t be surprising for Detroit to be an aggressive team looking to add talent to their roster. With that in mind, here are five top free-agent targets for the Lions this offseason.
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Evan Engram, tight end
The Lions surprisingly traded Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson at the trade deadline last season, leaving a gaping hole in their starting lineup. Brock Wright, a former undrafted player out of Notre Dame, got the first chance but finished with just 216 yards across ten starts. Wright is now a free agent, which just leaves 2022 fifth-round pick James Mitchell at the position.
Needless to say, the Lions are a good bet to add to their tight end room this offseason. One potential solution would be to sign Evan Engram, who’s coming off a career-best season where he caught 73 passes for 766 yards and four touchdowns.
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Engram is just 6-foot-3, but his speed and elusiveness make the one-time Pro Bowl tight end a weapon in space, which could work wonders in Detroit. While some may be hesitant to think Campbell, a former tight end, would be willing to shell out a large contract to Engram, a tight end who isn’t known for his blocking, the advanced stats suggest he wasn’t so bad as a blocker with the Jaguars.
According to Pro Football Focus, Engram graded as the 27th-best tight end as a run blocker and remarkably the sixth-best in pass protection. If Engram can repeat this effort going forward, he would be a strong addition to nearly any roster. Set to turn 29 next season, Engram would be a major improvement over what the Lions currently have on the roster.
Jamel Dean, cornerback
After allowing the third-most passing yards in the NFL in 2022, one area the Lions are sure to address this offseason is their pass coverage. If so, finding proven coverage corners like Tampa Bay’s Jamel Dean could be a wise way to improve the roster.
According to PFF, Dean has allowed just 0.80 yards per coverage snap since 2019, and his physicality both at the line of scrimmage and when the ball is arriving is sure to have coach Campbell pounding the table for Dean’s services.
At 6-foot-1, Dean certainly has the measurables of a top cornerback, but he’s never been much of a ball hawk, topping out with a career-high of two interceptions, a mark he’s achieved in three of his four seasons. But Dean isn’t afraid to wrap up ballcarriers in his path and has also topped 50 tackles in his past three seasons. He’s not a shutdown corner or a playmaker with great ball skills, but Dean is an above-average player for his position and would be a big boost to Detroit’s pass defense.
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Javon Hargrave, defensive tackle
Aidan Hutchinson and James Houston were good finds in the 2022 NFL Draft, but that was only the start. The Lions need to continue prioritizing building within the trenches, not only to get more pressure on quarterbacks but also to make life easier on their secondary in coverage.
One of the areas the Lions could quickly improve is their defensive interior, as they allowed the third-most yards per carry in the NFL in 2022. Yet, the Lions were bad in all aspects of defending the run, ranking 29th in rush yards allowed and touchdowns allowed on the ground.
The Lions could quickly help Hutchinson and others out, at least from a pass-rush perspective, by adding a player like Javon Hargrave. To be fair, he isn’t going to improve Detroit’s problems against the run, but he would be a big boost to their pass-rushing productivity. Hargrave has racked up 18.5 sacks in the past two seasons, which is nearly unheard of from a defensive tackle.
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The Lions can find another way to plug holes in the running game using their collection of draft picks, but adding a Pro Bowl pass rusher like the ‘Gravedigger’ may be too intriguing to pass up.
CJ Gardner-Johnson, safety
Another member of the Eagles’ top-ranked defense, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson took his game to new heights once he arrived in Philadelphia in 2022. Gardner-Johnson doubled his previous season-high interception total by picking off six passes this past season. He also racked up 61 tackles and deflected eight passes, splitting time between safety and covering the slot.
This type of defensive versatility would be welcome in Detroit, which needs to improve its secondary in every way possible, whether it’s in the form of safety reinforcements or adding to its cornerback group.
Gardner-Johnson is the type of playmaking defender that the Lions sorely lacked in their secondary this past season. Yet they can address this weakness by adding the 25-year-old on a contract that isn’t expected to break the bank this offseason.
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Lavonte David, linebacker
If the Lions want to make a big splash in free agency, look no further than All-Pro linebacker Lavonte David. While, at age 33, David is on the back nine of his career, he’s still a tackling machine who excels in coverage as well.
Last year alone, David racked up 124 tackles, three sacks, and a forced fumble while starting all 17 games for the Buccaneers. It was his ninth season topping the century mark in tackles. With so many tackles, one would think David would be an excellent run-stopper, but that isn’t quite the case.
Still, according to PFF, David still grades as an above-average run defender, finishing with a 73.5 grade in 2022, grading as the 32nd-best linebacker in run defense. This is a significant improvement over last year’s starter Alex Anzalone, who also racked up over 100 tackles, but struggled to stop the ground attack, grading out as PFF’s 119th-best linebacker in run defense.
We know the Lions can’t sign all the players listed above, but landing even just one or maybe even two in addition to another strong draft class could go a long way toward getting this team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.