Detroit Lions

 
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Sat 20 March, 2010

00:06 SB Nation Survey + Chance to donate $500 to a charity of this community's choice - Pride Of Detroit

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00:06 Linebacker Landon Johnson Agrees to Deal with Lions - Pride Of Detroit
Carolina Panthers' Landon Johnson (59) tackles Atlanta Falcons' Michael Turner (33) in the first half of an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Rick Havner)

More photos » Rick Havner - AP

4 months ago: Carolina Panthers' Landon Johnson (59) tackles Atlanta Falcons' Michael Turner (33) in the first half of an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Rick Havner)

Landon Johnson's agent announced on Twitter Friday night that the free agent linebacker has agreed to a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions.  Johnson was scheduled to visit the Lions earlier this week, and the two sides agreed to terms only a couple days later.

Johnson has previously played for the Bengals and Panthers, and as I explained in the initial post about him, his productivity as a linebacker dropped a lot in Carolina.

Johnson was released by the Panthers on March 5 after spending two seasons with the team.  Before that he played for the Bengals from 2004-07 and led the team in tackles for three seasons.  His numbers dropped significantly in Carolina because he didn't start a single game in 2008 and was only in the starting lineup 3 times last season.  This was quite a change after he started 53 games in four seasons with the Bengals, but as John Niyo points out, he was more of a special teams player with the Panthers.

As also mentioned in the initial post, Danny Crossman, the Lions' special teams coach, held the same position in Carolina before coming to Detroit.  That is the connection Johnson has to the Lions' coaching staff, so I'm sure Crossman was an advocate of bringing him in for special teams purposes. 

As a linebacker there are obviously a lot of question marks after Johnson's numbers dropped off so much in recent seasons.  I'm sure the Lions are thinking that Johnson is a depth player who will compete for a spot on the roster based largely on his special teams abilities.  If he can get back to his old form as a linebacker, then Johnson could potentially develop into a player who sees a decent amount of playing time as a backup.



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Fri 19 March, 2010

23:00 Ndamukong Suh excited after visit with Lions - detnews.com - Lions-NFL

The star Nebraska defensive tackle has left Detroit with positive feelings about the possibility of playing for the Lions should they make him the No. 2 pick in the draft.


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20:55 Agent: LB Landon Johnson signs with Lions - detnews.com - Lions-NFL

Free agent linebacker Landon Johnson signed a one-year contract with the Lions on Friday, according to his agent Andy Simms.


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20:07 Tim Twentyman: Lions should take a chance on troubled CB 'Pacman' Jones - detnews.com - Lions-NFL

If he gets in trouble, he's gone. If he embarrasses the team, he's gone. If he's cleaned up his act and helps the team, great.


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16:59 Pacman Jones' Workout Doesn't Happen (UPDATE: Scratch That, It Did) - Pride Of Detroit

UPDATE: By way of Pro Football Talk, NFL Network's Jason La Canfora is reporting that Pacman Jones' workout was held as planned earlier this evening.

"He's running the 40 right now and just did an interview with the camera crew we have there," La Canfora said via e-mail. 

La Canfora also said that five teams are present.

The cause of confusion was over the fact that Jones' workout was not held at the same place as Tulane's pro day. 

This is a prime example of why it's not a good idea to jump to conclusions.
--

From The Times-Picayune down in New Orleans:

Former NFL cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones did not appear for a workout as expected Friday in New Orleans. There was no immediate word on why he chose to cancel the widely publicized appearance.

Jones was supposed to hold his own workout for scouts after Tulane University finished its Pro Day. The Jones appearance was neither organized nor sanctioned by Tulane and school officials at the Pro Day said they had no information on Jones scrapping his workout.

Considering the Lions were scheduled to meet with Jones this morning, it is entirely possible that a deal was agreed to, making a workout pointless.  If that isn't the case and Jones didn't sign with another team, however, he has some serious explaining to do.  Even if Jones had held a workout and it went well, there's no guarantee that a team would sign him simply because of the off the field concerns.  If Pacman did indeed blow off his workout and doesn't have a valid excuse, I'd say the chances of him returning to the NFL are for sure out the window.

Obviously it's not a good idea to jump to conclusions since we have yet to get an explanation, but unless Jones has been signed or there was an emergency of some sort, I sure wouldn't want to be his agent and have to battle the PR firestorm that is likely to erupt in the coming hours.



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15:41 Pacman Jones, and the (further) value of information (Yahoo! Sports) - Yahoo! Sports - NFL - Detroit Lions News
The recent LeGarrette Blount Pro Day fiasco should have taught us all a thing or two about jumping to...
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14:01 Gerald McCoy runs through a drill during Oklahoma's pro day last week. - Detroit Lions News

NFL draft analyst Todd McShay of ESPN reiterated his belief Thursday that the Lions will select a defensive tackle -- Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh or Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy -- with the No.


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12:16 Lions Active In Scouting Draft Prospects - Scout.com > RoarReport.com
The Detroit Lions have been all over the country in the last week scouting draft-eligible talent. So where have the team's scouts visited, and which players? We have the scoop ...
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11:19 Notebook: Will Lions Sign "Pacman" Jones? - Scout.com > RoarReport.com
Part of Detroit's off-season strategy has included the involvement of quarterback Matthew Stafford. Also, with help still needed at cornerback, the Lions are looking at all options -- including troubled free-agent Adam "Pacman" Jones. More inside ...
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09:37 John Niyo: Calvin Johnson works to stay on field, give Lions more help - detnews.com - Lions-NFL

After three losing seasons in the NFL, Johnson, the No. 2 pick in 2007, admits it would be nice to finally get recognized as one of the league's best receivers.


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09:21 Tight end prospect Ed Dickson visits Lions - Detroit Lions News

Oregon tight end Ed Dickson is visiting the Detroit Lions today and is an intriguing prospect for the NFL draft.


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04:52 Detroit Lions NFL Draft Coundown: 37 Days - Detroit Lions News

Not a whole lot has changed since I put out my first NFL draft countdown 63 days ago and I still favor a priority on defense .


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03:43 Thursday Notes: Ndamukong Suh to Visit Lions Today - Pride Of Detroit
Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (93) during an NCAA college football Big 12 Conference championship game against Texas, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Amy Gutierrez)

More photos » Amy Gutierrez - ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 months ago: Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (93) during an NCAA college football Big 12 Conference championship game against Texas, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Amy Gutierrez)

  • Mike O'Hara got word from Ndamukong Suh's agent (interestingly, Suh's agent is former Lions linebacker Roosevelt Barnes) that the defensive tackle will be visiting with the Lions today in Allen Park.  Russell Okung visited earlier this week, and Gerald McCoy's visit was set for yesterday.  Suh's arrival to Allen Park will cap off a big week of visits with players that could potentially be selected with the second overall pick.  In the coming weeks more potential picks will head to Allen Park, as the Lions will still have 27 visits to use before the draft.
  • Larry Foote backtracked a bit on Wednesday and tried to clear up his earlier comments that were viewed as a shot at the Lions.  You can be the judge of his reasoning for the comments and decide for yourself what you think of them, but Foote did say something that we've been thinking all this time.
    "They were evaluating me the whole time, and I was evaluating them," Foote said. "I guess it was a mutual decision. I didn't really fit into the defense, didn't feel like it suited my game. And I'm quite sure the coaches saw it that way, too."
    I wish Foote would have just said that from the start, but whatever.  Like I said yesterday, it's time to move on to other things.
  • New Lions quarterback Shaun Hill is okay with being a backup.
  • Toby Gerhart reportedly scored a 30 on the Wonderlic test.  C.J. Spiller was on the opposite end of the spectrum, as he reportedly scored a 10.
  • A couple administrative things: 1) Things have been so busy that I haven't yet had a chance to put together profiles on the Lions' acquisitions, but I still plan to post them at some point when I get a chance. 2) Look for info on the second annual Pride of Detroit community mock draft next week.  We are inching closer and closer to April, so I figure it's probably time to start planning the community mock draft so we can get it started in the near future.



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03:43 Lions Will Meet with Pacman Jones, Attend His Workout - Pride Of Detroit

Pacman Jones' private workout is scheduled for Friday, and the Lions will be one of four teams in attendance, according to NFL Network's Jason La Canfora. 

One of the other four teams that will be attending the workout is San Francisco, which has previously been reported as having interest in Jones.  The interest seems to be pretty high, because the 49ers apparently privately met with Jones last week.  The Lions are going to do that on Friday morning, seemingly confirming that they and San Francisco are the most interested in Jones.

The other two teams that will be at the workout are the Jaguars and Saints.



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03:43 Lions Re-Sign Other Four Exclusive Rights Free Agents? - Pride Of Detroit

According to NFL.com's transactions page, the Lions have re-signed Cedric Peerman, Jake Nordin, Corey Hilliard, and Zack Follett, the team's remaining exclusive rights free agents.  It was confirmed by the team yesterday that exclusive rights free agent DeAngelo Smith was re-signed, but so far there hasn't been any confirmation from the team for the other four.

Even though nothing has been reported on the Lions' website, it is likely that all of the exclusive rights free agents have indeed been re-signed.  I say that because Zack Follett confirmed to Pride of Detroit that he did in fact re-sign with the team earlier today (woo real reporting!), so it's probably safe to assume that the others did as well.



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03:43 Latest AXE Hair Action Challenge Video - Pride Of Detroit

The most recent AXE Hair Action Challenge commercial featuring Matthew Stafford is out (see below), and to go along with the video the folks at AXE Hair have provided a football autographed by Stafford to give away to one of my readers.  I pondered how to do the giveaway before ultimately deciding that the football will go to the winner of Pride of Detroit Tournament Pick'em.  There are 75 people in the group, so good luck to everybody and thanks again to AXE Hair for making this possible.



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00:35 Lions Team Report (Yahoo! Sports) - Yahoo! Sports - NFL - Detroit Lions News

The Colts do it with Peyton Manning. The Saints do it with Drew Brews. And the Lions already are doing it with their franchise quarterback, even though he just turned 22 and has only 10 NFL games under his belt.

The Lions' coaches and executives are asking for Matthew Stafford's input and keeping him in the loop on personnel matters. They even had him help recruit free agent wide receiver Nate Burleson.

"It's awesome to know that they trust me," Stafford said. "Obviously I'm not making draft picks. I wouldn't want to. It's a tough job. But just seeing if I'm familiar with a guy and maybe his past and understand how he could work in our offense or how he might not, that kind of thing.

"I'm sure it will keep growing as my relationship with all the guys up there keeps...
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