DETROIT, MI - OCTOBER 28: Newly acquired Damon Harrison of the Detroit Lions #98 on the field against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half Ford Field on October 28, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The Detroit Lions need to improve upon their 2018 performance in all three phases if they wish to contend for the NFC North crown in 2019, but one of those three units got a little head start on the others in the second half of last season.

The Detroit Lions defensive turn around last season has been well chronicled in Detroit as they tightened up after their week nine loss to the Vikings. According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, the Lions defense went from allowing 142.5 yards rushing per game weeks 1-9 to just 77.6 in weeks 10-17. That’s dramatic.

That turnaround is now bringing a lot of optimism for the Lions defense heading into the 2019 season. Something to be expected when you top off last seasons strong finish with a little Ford & Co. spending spree in free agency signing (DE) Trey Flowers & (CB) Justin Coleman, draft an intriguing new class of rookies on defense and have a full season under the Patricia scheme to build upon.

That turnaround plus that offseason is now bringing even more optimism that this ‘New England Midwest’ regime with Quinn and Patricia at the helm might finally be ready to take off, especially if they can get the offense right with Darrell Bevell, optimism this might finally be the Detroit Lions time in the NFC North. And even if you don’t all buy into all that, at the very least Detroit Lions fans should all share that optimism in the defense right?

Lions Luck then hit in a not as familiar way when Darius Slay & Damon Harrison started missing voluntary workouts, eventually skipping minicamp in hopes of getting new contracts. Slay, and Harrison are arguably the Lions two best players on the defensive side of the ball, without them all that optimism goes out the window. Just like the S.O.L type play to lose a game in the 4th quarter, things can never go as planned for Lions fans.

This was never planned because both Slay and Harrison have two years left on their current contracts. It’s very uncommon for players to hold out with two years left on their commitments. Exactly what Slay and ‘Snacks’ Harrison are looking for is not 100% clear, though the lack of guaranteed money for the final two years for both players would be my guess as to the primary concern. Which is a legit reason for concern, anything could happen in the way of injury, but it should have been a concern when they both signed these contracts, it’s what Slay, Harrison and their agent all negotiated for. I’m generally on the players’ side when it comes to contract disputes, but there has to be a line drawn.

We’re going to get a view of Quinn’s line when it comes to player negotiations with multiple years left on their contract real soon if the line is an extension or a new deal for the players, it’s a line I don’t think the Lions should cross. Extending or getting a new contract for either Slay or Harrison when signed for two more years would set a horrible precedent for a young General Manager in Bob Quinn. A precedent that I bet would be tested again soon and for many offseasons after. There are other options beyond extending, like restructuring a deal for more guaranteed money, but even restructuring deals with multiple years remaining could lead to a slippery slope for future offseasons.

Harrison’s case is he has no guaranteed money left, and an average base salary of $9.25/M ranks him at 16th in the NFL for DT’s according to Spotrac.com. Which is a little low, but he’s not the best DT in the game, he’s one of the best run-stuffing DT’s in the game, that’s his one and only trick though, which means he’s off the field in apparent passing and most 3rd downs. Harrison ranked 62nd in the NFL in tackles for loss, 70th in combo tackles and 110th in solo tackles in 2018; he was also the only player in the NFL to play in 17 games due to the timing of the trade between the Detroit Lions and New York Giants and their bye weeks.

People will point to the defensive turn around two weeks after he the Lions traded for Harrison, but I think it was definitely a mix of Harrison, team defense buy-in and just getting familiar to Patricia’s scheme. This is a team game, and the Lions showed better team defense, let’s not get carried away with a nose tackle being the reason for the turnaround.

Slay’s case is a bit different, though he already received his guaranteed money, there is still a cap hit, which makes him not as liable to just being released ala, Gerald McCoy. Slay’s average base salary of $12,037,500 ranks him at 13th in the NFL for CB’s, which is also low, how low depends on who you talk to. According to Pro Football Focus in an article from Austin Gayle;

Even looking at just the past three years (2016-18), Slay ranks seventh in forced incompletion percentage (30.0%) and eighth in passer rating allowed (53.6) on targets of 10-plus air yards among qualifiers.

So while he’s been paid since his 2016 extension as the 13th best cornerback, he’s somewhere in the 5-10 range based off play. One thing Slay has working for him over Harrison is it’s a lot harder to find high-end CB’s in the NFL than high-end DT’s. Though CB’s have a history of fading fast so at 28 Slay is probably wanting to cash in one more time while he’s still playing at a high level. The biggest question is at 28, how much longer will Slay be playing at that elite level?

We all might be finding out how much brass the Detroit Lions front office really has. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press states in an article written here;

Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for Darius Slay and Damon Harrison, is set to meet with the Detroit Lions this week in hopes of landing two of the team’s star defensive players new contracts.

With all that said, I don’t see Slay or Harrison holding out come week one. If they went down that road, they could have to hold out for two years, and at ages 28 and 30, that would be a risky move. It would also be a risky move to start extending players with multiple years out. The smart play here is to hold your ground, let them play out 2019 and extend next offseason if the play still warrants it.

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Though while I don’t see Slay or Harrison missing week one, missing training camp is not out of the question unless that meeting ends with guaranteed money for this season. To be continued.