Jamie Samuelsen

Special to the Detroit Free Press

Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the "Jamie and Stoney Show" weekdays from 6-10 a.m. on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. He also appears regularly on Fox 2​. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen.

What stands out to you about what Bob Quinn and the Detroit Lions have done early in free agency?

Bob Quinn can’t be defined yet.

We’ve tried to decipher his moves and figure out how they correspond with his time with the New England Patriots. We’ve asked questions such as, “Is this what Bill Belichick would do?” “Is Matthew Stafford his version of Tom Brady?” and “When we win our fourth Super Bowl, will we be considered a dynasty?”

His first draft was a rousing success. His first free agent class was solid, even though receiver Marvin Jones hasn’t justified his salary. The Lions made the playoffs in his first season. By any measure, Quinn has been very good. But he didn’t come here to win a wild-card spot. He came here to (finally) turn this franchise into a consistent winner. He’ll be judged when the results of that endeavor are fully in.

Most NFL observers say that the Lions have done a good job in the first week of free agency. I’d agree. I’ll also add another adjective to my description: surprising. And I’ll add an adverb while I’m at it: refreshingly surprising.

The Lions entered free agency roughly $35 million under the salary cap, so you knew that they’d be buyers. You also knew that they’d need to allow for a Matthew Stafford contract extension this summer. They also entered free agency with Larry Warford and Riley Reiff without contracts. Warford was outstanding as a rookie and was a solid, dependable guard. Reiff was a solid, dependable tackle. Quinn looked at the two of them, looked at his budget, looked at the market and decided that he could make the offensive line better.

On day one of free agency, he signed Rick Wagner away from the Baltimore Ravens with the largest contract ever given to a right tackle. But when you consider the fact that offensive line starters Taylor Decker, Graham Glasgow and Travis Swanson take up such a small part of the cap on rookie contracts, you can see why Quinn was able to spend so liberally. We just didn’t realize that it would keep going.

I honestly thought that T.J. Lang was doing the Lions a solid by talking to them during free agency. Lang is a loyal Detroiter who is as frustrated as we are by the Detroit Red Wings' struggles (check out his Twitter feed). But I figured he’d stay in Green Bay, where he had won and where he would continue to contend for Super Bowls while playing in front of Aaron Rodgers. The Lions didn’t let that happen. They beat the Packers' offer. And according to Lang, they made it clear that their vision didn’t just include making it back to the wild-card game.

The cynical fan will shake their head and tell you that it always comes back to the money. That might be partially true. But Lang has been a Lions fan his whole life. He knows the ups and downs (and downs) of the franchise more than anyone. I’m a fan of someone who wants to invest in changing the culture. Clearly, Lang wants to do both for his hometown team.

The Lions' offensive line did a good job last year of protecting Stafford. They struggled to run the ball, but a lot of that had to do with injuries to Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick. But Quinn clearly didn’t think that was good enough. So he reworked the offensive line from solid to strong. Four of the five expected starters graded out near the top of their respective positions. The fifth -- Glasgow -- didn’t start until later in the season and was forced to shuttle over to center after Swanson suffered a concussion. There’s also former first-round pick Laken Tomlinson and 2016 fifth-round pick Joe Dahl who was thought to be the starting right guard before Lang arrived. Depth along the offensive line. What a concept.

Does this mean that the Lions are contenders? Does this make Quinn a genius? Of course not. Just remember that this is an unfinished story. We’re all looking for signs, and the signs for Quinn have been positive. You may disagree with his decision to retain coach Jim Caldwell for another season. But he didn’t extend Caldwell’s deal. And he’s busy putting together a roster that will make Caldwell a success or make this team very attractive to his successor.

You can’t define Quinn. Not yet. But the early returns are in, and they are very, very promising.

Live: Lions, NFL free agency rumor mill