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Where should the Lions turn to for their next left tackle?
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00:00It's supposed to be a gorgeous day today. High of 67.
00:06Basically tropical.
00:07Baseball, softball workouts, tryouts begin today, so hopefully they'll be able to actually be outside.
00:13And today at noon, tampering begins. NFL free agency is here.
00:18We're going to get to what the Lions need to do, especially post-Taylor Decker's decision.
00:24But quickly, Tony, you're on 97.1.
00:27Hey, what's going on, fellas?
00:29What's up?
00:30Hey, not too much, man.
00:31Just try to be quick here.
00:33I don't think if panic was the right thing that I would choose, but it's kind of more or less
00:37aligned with like an emotional sports fatigue, if you will, as far as for the Pistons.
00:43But I think it's kind of combined with the other three major teams here.
00:48All that kind of optimism beginning of the season, then we end up tailing out, you know what I mean,
00:53where it doesn't work out too well.
00:54So I wanted to ask you guys if you guys kind of felt a similar way.
00:58And also in closing, if, you know, out of our four major, you know, who's closest to winning a title
01:05in your opinion, but then also how far away are they?
01:09Meaning, do you think they'll be willing to do the things that they need to actually bring a title here?
01:14Because that's what absolutely I think it is, is title fatigue.
01:16Hasn't the answer changed like three times in six months?
01:20Yeah.
01:20You know what I mean?
01:20Like at one point we would have said the Lions, all pros.
01:25Could they, could they go on a run?
01:26Yeah.
01:28But then they, they finished last in the division.
01:30Yeah.
01:30And this off season is going to be a pivotal one that I think we, the default became the Pistons.
01:36Especially with, yeah.
01:37I mean, how they were playing.
01:38I mean, they were playing well against even the best teams.
01:42But is the answer the Tigers today?
01:44It feels like the answer would be the Tigers.
01:47Simply because of the investment that they made.
01:49And we, I know I got on you last week talking about the trade deadline before the season even started.
01:54But this, it feels like they're setting themselves up to be in a really good position and figure out what
02:03they have.
02:04Is Riley Green going to be the strikeout king he was last year?
02:08Or will he be a little bit more reliable bat to ball?
02:10Is Tork going to be able to put two years back to back together?
02:14Good ones.
02:15What's Parker Meadows?
02:16What's Kevin McGonagall?
02:17How much help do they need at the plate?
02:20They'll be able to address that because they'll know all about it at the trade deadline.
02:24So the investment's already been made.
02:25And you feel like they'll follow it up with a trade deadline investment.
02:30You don't want to feel like your team's plateaued.
02:32And I think we've had that feeling with our teams at different points.
02:35I don't feel that way with the Tigers.
02:37Not with the Valdez signing.
02:38Not with the promise of, hey, McGonagall could come up here and make an impact in his rookie
02:42season.
02:42And yeah, the follow-through.
02:44Their payroll is now a top 10, top 12, depending on what other teams have done.
02:48But it's a real serious investment for this team.
02:51You don't feel like they're going to plateau.
02:53You feel like there's more bullets in the chamber.
02:55For the Pistons, it may be that they've plateaued.
02:57At least for this season.
02:58That this is just who they are and they have their limitations.
03:01And if they can defend their ass off, they might go around further than they're supposed
03:04to, but that they have plateaued.
03:06And for the wings, you get excited because they made a move and maybe it has an extra
03:10level to it.
03:10For the Lions, now's the time to make those moves.
03:13Like if we want to get into it, John Taylor Decker, he won't be back.
03:17We found out Friday.
03:18Start there and then we'll get into what today brings.
03:20Not surprised at all that they're moving on from Taylor Decker.
03:22Um, we heard Dan and Brad talk about Taylor Decker, um, at the combine.
03:28And then we, it was literally that same weekend moments after we got done playing the audio
03:34from both of them that Taylor Decker comes out and makes the announcement.
03:37I'm back, baby, but it has to be mutual.
03:41And we found out obviously that it's not mutual and Taylor Decker won't be back.
03:45So it does free up some money and we'll see how active they are in terms of rebuilding
03:51the offensive line.
03:52What are they going to add on the defensive front?
03:54How are they going to replace Alex Anceloni?
03:56What are they going to do in the secondary with corner?
03:58All of those things are big questions.
04:01And a lot of it starts today at noon, but what has to happen before noon?
04:06If they're going to be players in this, yeah, they've, they freed up some money because
04:09Decker is going to be gone as of Wednesday when they, when they release him on the first
04:15day of the new league year.
04:17But what about the restructures with Jared Goff?
04:19What about restructuring Amon Ross St.
04:22Brown clearing up cap space?
04:24I can't imagine that they're going to get to Wednesday and Jared Goff is going to be
04:30still counting for 70 million against the cap.
04:33Yeah.
04:33We're reaching a weird phase of this where I don't know if I'm supposed to be concerned.
04:38Like it's a no brainer.
04:40They're going to have to restructure to make any free agent moves and to sign their rookies.
04:44Yet it hasn't happened yet.
04:46I stress yet.
04:47It has to happen, John.
04:48I don't want to panic for something that makes all the sense in the world and should
04:52happen literally any second, right?
04:53It didn't have to happen last week.
04:55It just has to happen before Wednesday.
04:58But to be able to enter those conversations with impending free agents, it starts at noon
05:05today.
05:06That's when legal tampering happens.
05:07Okay.
05:08Maybe it'll work a little backwards.
05:09Is there a way they come to terms with the guy and then go to Goff and say, see, this
05:12is what we're going to use the money for.
05:14Because it doesn't have to all tie up until.
05:16Because the contract that you agree to can't be signed until Wednesday.
05:19Right.
05:19So is there a world where they come to agreements and then work backwards to get the money they
05:23need?
05:24Oh, so you think Jared Goff told him and said, yeah, you know what?
05:26I will renegotiate.
05:28I'll free up cap space.
05:30But this is what you have to do with it.
05:32And once you do that, then I'll sign on the dotted line.
05:35I'd love if he said Linderbaum or I'm keeping my money.
05:38Right.
05:38If you show me Linderbaum, I'll restructure my deal.
05:42Because that's the guy I want them to pursue today, John.
05:45Linderbaum is the first phone call you make.
05:48You have to solidify the offensive line.
05:50And you need a tackle now, too, because of Decker.
05:53But I think the center has to be the vet.
05:55The center is the one that diagnoses the line of scrimmage.
05:58The center is the one that prevents a blitz from getting through unblocked.
06:03It's got to be a veteran center.
06:04And I think Linderbaum is the guy to go pay for today.
06:07Yep.
06:08Linderbaum is going to be the star of the show when we're talking about centers.
06:12And we saw Chicago instantly address center position.
06:16They traded for one after Dahlman decided unexpectedly to retire.
06:21And so they've addressed their center position.
06:23There are other teams out there that are looking for center.
06:26Baltimore being one of them.
06:28And I'll be a little surprised if Linderbaum even makes it ultimately to free agency.
06:34Well, that's the pain in the ass of all this.
06:36Connor McGovern stayed in Buffalo.
06:40Khalil Mack, who I thought would have been interesting as a flyer,
06:42one-year deal on that defense.
06:43He stays in Los Angeles.
06:45So some of the names, obviously, we've been talking about Tyler Linderbaum.
06:51Cade Mays is the other one.
06:53As you start going down the list, Ethan Pochick.
06:56Now, Pochick is interesting because he's been in the league nine years.
06:59He's been in Cleveland.
07:03I'm not sure how much he has left in the tank and how much I want to rely on that.
07:09Cushenberry, Lloyd Cushenberry is coming from Tennessee.
07:12Tennessee, that's another name to be cognizant of.
07:17Yeah.
07:18I mean, look, if they don't address a veteran center because they want to put Tate Ratlitch
07:24at center, then I would hope they are going to have an impact guard next to him.
07:31Same thing.
07:32All right.
07:33So here's how I want them to address the offensive line.
07:36I think this is the best path forward.
07:39And that is you go to the draft for a tackle.
07:44There's a lot of really good tackles in this year's draft.
07:47And it doesn't mean you have to stay at 17.
07:48If there's one that you just got to have, move up to 11 or 12.
07:52I think you can get the guy that you want at 11 or 12.
07:56And then in free agency, whatever you're doing with the center position with either guys that
08:03are on the roster, you've got to address the center guard trio.
08:08And Scruggs is a backup.
08:11He's not going to be, in my opinion, even competing for one of the guard spots or the center position.
08:17And maybe ultimately, Ratlitch is your center.
08:20But then you better put a free agent guard with some experience next to him.
08:26My preference would be Linderbaum.
08:28If you can't get the center and you get too far down the center list, and at that point,
08:32you go, well, the guards are actually the better football players.
08:35Then that's a way to get your best five on the offensive line.
08:37And I have no idea what Ratlitch looks like at center.
08:41We saw it a little bit during training camp.
08:43Not enough to be able to make a judgment.
08:44Well, they made a quick call that that wasn't good enough.
08:47But it's, for me, I liked what I saw from him at guard.
08:51Keep him there, especially if you're going to keep Penny Sewell next to him.
08:55Then you go out in free agency and you sign the best center available.
09:00You let Mahogany, you let Miles Frazier, you let Scruggs, you let them all compete for that
09:07left guard spot.
09:07And then the draft is where you take the tackle.
09:12Sewell to left tackle?
09:13I guess it depends on the tackle you get.
09:15Yes, it depends on the tackle.
09:17It depends on the level of athleticism that he has, how comfortable he is moving to right.
09:21I would anticipate that that would be my number one choice.
09:26Text coming in.
09:28Guys you want and how they build this offensive line.
09:31What's the best way to do it?
09:32Have to replace a center and a left tackle with Taylor Decker.
09:352-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
09:38We'll read some of your feedback, go to the phones as well.
09:41And we've got to update everybody on Heather's karaoke adventures.
09:44We'll do that in the 9 o'clock hour.
09:45It's 97.1.
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