The first week of Free Agency has come to an end. Day one saw a flurry of activity, with many teams handing out very large contracts. The Lions were mostly dormant on day one, simply re-signing two of their own players, RB Joique Bell and WR Kevin Ogletree. As the week progressed, the Lions made a few moves, signing DE Darryl Tapp and DT Vaughn Martin, re-signing TE Brandon Pettigrew, and the biggest move, locking WR Golden Tate into a 5-year deal. Other relevant signings in the NFC North: the Packers picked up DE Julius Peppers, the Bears grabbed DE Justin Houston and DE Willie Young, and the Vikings signed CB Captain Munnerlyn and DT Linval Joseph.

Detroit Lions Signings

Joique Bell

Bell had been tendered at second-round level and figured to be back next year regardless of his 2-year extension. Bell did quite a bit of work running behind RB Mikel Leshoure in 2012, and saw an increased workload in 2013 behind Reggie Bush. In 2012, Bell saw 392 snaps, 82 rushes for 414 yards, and 52 receptions for 485 yards. In the Lions 2013 training camp, Bell passed Leshoure on the depth chart to become their number 2 running back, racking up 562 snaps, 166 rushes for 653 yards, and 53 receptions for 547 yards (all numbers courtesy of PFF.), nearly doubling his work effort from 2012. Joique Bell has shown that in tandem duties with running back 1A in Detroit he is very effective. Re-signing Bell allows for very little drop off when providing Reggie Bush a breather and gives Detroit the luxury to smartly manage the touches of both runners to prolong their effectiveness as the year progresses.

In addition to complementing Reggie Bush’s quickness with Bell’s bruising elusive style, the signing also works out well for the fans. Joique loves Detroit; Detroit loves Joique. Joique loves playing football and it shows every time he touches the ball. Detroit fans get two more years of watching an undrafted kid from their home town reap the benefits of working his ass off everyday, just like they do. Joique gets to have the time of his life knowing exactly why – he gets to wake up on Sunday morning, put on the Honolulu blue, walk onto a football field and do what he loves, while the city professes their love to him. Joique Bell has accomplished what every person in Detroit works so hard for, and, rightly so, they love him for it. I love him for it.

Brandon Pettigrew

I spent Pettigrew’s first few years defending his drops. Then 2012 happened. His drop rate increased, he started fumbling, and his production dropped. I stopped defending him. The 2013 season didn’t start off well for Pettigrew either, but he picked up as the year progressed. Pettigrew finished 2013 with 40 receptions on 60 targets for 416 yards. In 2012 he had 59 receptions on 95 targets for 567 yards. I’ve heard fans suggest that the Lions reduced Pettigrew’s targets to compensate for his “lack of hands”. I, however, feel that the drop-off was more a product of the addition of RB Reggie Bush, the previously mentioned increased role Joique Bell played, and the general way games played out. Calvin Johnson saw a larger number of targets in 2012 than 2013 (199 to 148), yet no one would suggest that drop-off is because the Lions are wary of throwing to him. Pettigrew has, for much of his career, been a solid contributor who isn’t much more than that. He is just a guy – a valuable guy, but just a guy regardless. PFF rates him 5th among tight ends in pass blocking efficiency, and first in slot catch percentage among tight ends who took more than 25% of their snaps from slot. Pettigrew did finish 31st in drop rate and had a very poor performance in run blocking this past year. That last bit may help to explain this tweet, which I had trouble reconciling considering his pass block efficiency rating.

Seen a lot of praise for Brandon Pettigrew's blocking, but it hasn't been a strength of his in some time: pic.twitter.com/DfjhwCUvyU — Pete Damilatis (@PFF_Pete) March 14, 2014

Golden Tate

Boy, do I love this signing. I thought Tate would be far too expensive for the Lions to pick up. In actuality, he would have been if the Lions had done what I asked and signed S TJ Ward. Ward instead signed a deal with the Denver Broncos – a deal, I think, the Lions could have bested if they were interested. Instead, the Lions chose to use that money to lock a young number 2 receiver with great hands to play opposite Calvin. Tate has functionally operated as Seattle’s WR1 through this point in his career. A combination of Seattle’s run-heavy offense and his lack of ability to be a true number 1 leave his stats a little underwhelming. Tate does, however, possess solid hands, true long speed, the ability to make tacklers miss, and a tenacious instinct for blocking. Oh, and he can return punts as well. Tate had 55 receptions for 868 yards, averaging 15 yards per reception. Many people speculate that Tate can play inside out, but in all honesty he doesn’t have much of a track record on the inside. While in Seattle, Tate took less than 25% of his snaps from the slot. There is a lot to like about Tate, but my favorite thing is the way he attacks the ball in the air. He seems to rip nearly every ball out of the air with violence. His solid hands are nothing to scoff at either. Matthew Stafford really needs a dependable receiver not named Calvin Johnson, and the Lions found him one. Some fans have come out in opposition of this signing because of Tate’s seemingly arrogant manner. “Seemingly arrogant” is a rather nice way of saying it. He does come across as a bit of jerk, but the Lions are attempting to field a winning football team. This means that questions like, “Can he catch the football?”, “Can he get open with consistency?”, “Can he pull coverage from Calvin?”, “Can he succeed with the reduced coverage Calvin’s presence brings?” should come before questions like, “Is he full of himself?”. There are character questions that are important to me. I don’t want the Lions signing players with a history of violence against women, for example. I just view complaining about a player’s arrogance as complaining about a player knowing he’s good at football. Some people have personalties other people don’t like. It’s okay. Now watch some of his highlights.

Chicago Bears

The Bears signed Justin Houston and Willie Young for their defensive line. They also cut Julius Peppers, and it looks likely they will be losing DT Henry Melton. I think overall that this free agency period has been a downgrade for the Bears defense. Houston is a much better run defender than pass rusher at the DE spot. Willie Young remains unproven, but in a rotational role with the Lions he was solid. I liked Young as a back-up with the Lions. He was a nice guy to have as a fill-in late in games. The truth is, however, he could never break the starting rotation of the Lions’ defensive line, which, I believe, contrary to popular sentiment, hasn’t been all that great. In addition to my gut feeling, Pro Football Focus also has him grading out negatively in pass rush and overall. The one thing I know for certain is that he will look like a jerk in a Bears uniform.

Green Bay Packers

The Packers typically don’t make a splash in free agency, however this year they signed the recently-released Julius Peppers. Peppers may see a resurgence with the Packers, as most pass protection will be geared toward stopping Clay Matthews. I think that Peppers was a good addition to Green Bay and improves their defense, however Peppers has been on a downward spiral for a while as this tweet’s graphic indicates:

Julius Peppers may recapture some old glory with the Packers, but he's been trending downward for years: pic.twitter.com/BzjLeB0LiR — Pete Damilatis (@PFF_Pete) March 15, 2014

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings’ defense last year was awful. This year they have added a defensive-minded coach in Mike Zimmer, as well as Linval Joseph and Captain Munnerlyn. Linval Joseph is a nice addition at DT being paired with an improving Sheldon Richardson to shore up the interior of the Viking defensive line. Munnerlyn was a name I had on my watch list for the Lions. Munnerlyn is a very good tackler and efficient coverage man, who is being paired opposite Xavier Rhodes, a rookie last year, who should see improvement in the upcoming season. I think the Vikings have done a very good job improving their defense so far in this off season.