In 2019, the Detroit Lions finished the regular season with a 3-12-1 record, which was good enough (or bad enough) to land them the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Though it’s fun to pick high in the NFL Draft, it is certainly not what NFL teams strive for.
The hope is that the Lions can turn it around in 2020 and make a run at the NFL Playoffs but that will be a tall task considering how bad the defense was last season.
With a healthy Matthew Stafford, I have made it clear that I believe the Lions could have a top 5 offense in the league this coming season. That being said, I don’t believe GM Bob Quinn has done quite enough to improve what was one of the worst defenses in franchise history a year ago.
But that does not mean it’s too late for Quinn to make an addition that could change the Lions 2020 season.
One free-agent I believe could make the defense formidable enough to give the Lions a legit chance to win the NFC North is EDGE pass rusher, Everson Griffen.
Griffen, who played the last 10 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, is 32 years old, but he still has plenty of gas left in the take to be a difference-maker on a Lions defense that failed to get to opposing quarterbacks in 2019.
Griffen, who is coming off his fourth Pro Bowl in the past five years, had 8 sacks in 15 starts for the Vikings in 2019 and has 74.5 sacks in 88 career starts (147 total games).
Is Everson Griffen going to come to the Lions and put up double-digit sacks in 2020? Probably not. But could he be enough to help the Lions become a top 20 defense, which I believe would be enough to complement what will be a dominant offense? Absolutely.
Nation, what do you think? Should the Lions go out and sign Everson Griffen to bolster their defense?