ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions need a running back badly. They need a pass rusher too. And with Haloti Ngata visiting the Eagles today, and expected to sign a one-year deal, they have a serious problem at defensive tackle.

But nowhere are they more depleted than tight end.

Darren Fells, a good blocker who chipped in three touchdown catches last year, bolted for Cleveland on the first day of free agency. Then the Lions made the surprising decision to cut Eric Ebron less than an hour before the market opened.

Sure, Ebron struggled with some drops. Sure, he didn't always say the right things. And sure, the Lions will save $8.25 million by cutting him. But they still need someone to play tight end, and they don't have much left.

Michael Roberts has four career catches. Hakeem Valles doesn't have any. Neither does Brandon Barnes. And that's it. That's all the Lions have left, tight end-wise.

Ebron never really fit in with Detroit. Fans hated him from the moment he was drafted. Of course it wasn't his fault that Martin Mayhew picked him 10th overall, just like it wasn't his fault that Mayhew picked him over Aaron Donald, Odell Beckham, Taylor Lewan or Zack Martin. But he did himself no favors either.

He showed up talking a big game, and then fell on his face. His rookie season was a disaster. He was booed. And Ebron, for all his gains the last couple years, was never able to fully chase them away. At one point last season, he was booed every time his face was shown on the video boards at Ford Field. He was even booed over a promotion.

The Lions tried to deal him, but found no takers. And even after a red-hot finish to the season -- he was among the top five most productive players in the second half -- the Lions still couldn't deal him. Not even in a league thirsty for pass-catching tight ends.

Not at that price. And so they cut him.

Perhaps they're best off without Ebron. There's no doubt Ebron is best off without Detroit. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him flourish in a place where he doesn't have so much baggage. He can run. He can play. We saw that in the second half of last season. He finished with 53 catches for 574 yards overall, which made him a top-11 tight end in the league despite the first-half funk. He was the club's third-leading pass catcher.

And that's production that Detroit must figure out how to replace.

The Lions are encouraged by the development of Roberts. He caught a whole bunch of touchdown passes at Toledo -- 16 in his final season alone, which led the country's tight ends -- so it's not like he can't catch. He just wasn't asked to do it much as a rookie. The position is notoriously difficult on first-year players, and Detroit had Ebron to handle the bulk of the pass catching anyway.

But with Ebron cleared from the roster, more almost certainly will be expected of Roberts in 2018. And he knows it too.

"Just gonna work hard this offseason, because next year I'm going to be a dog," he told MLive before Ebron was cut. "I'm going to be a beast. It's going to be great, man."

At 265 pounds, Roberts is a much bigger player than Ebron. That makes him better in line, and his blocking has come a long way. But while he can catch, he can't run the same types of routes as Ebron either. Neither can Valles or Barnes, for that matter. And that makes tight end the leanest group on the roster.

They need a No. 1 running back, but at least have complementary pieces in place like Ameer Abdullah and especially Theo Riddick. They need a defensive tackle, but at least have a returning starter in A'Shawn Robinson. They probably need one more pass rusher, although having Ezekiel Ansah and Kerry Hyder back will help, as will the addition of Devon Kennard in free agency. Kennard is listed as a linebacker, but spent the bulk of his time last year as an edge rusher.

But at tight end, there's nothing but question marks as the Lions head into the second day of free agency.