LIONS SQUAD SHOW: MAJOR FREE AGENCY NEWS, Detroit Lions Roster Re-Tool Taking Shape

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All right, a brand new live.

Lockdown Lions Squad Show starts right now, Jake Riemann, Nally Kerman, Bradford, Banta,

and all my goodness, Nat Bradford content for the next hour.

Oh my goodness.

This is a podcaster's dream.

Are you kidding me?

Sometimes it feels like we're just talking at just every little thing we can get trying

to talk about stuff in the off season.

But finally, you guys lions are making moves.

Everyone's making moves and I can't wrap my head around it.

I tell you what, there's only one thing to say.

Brad Holmes didn't just restructure Jared Goff so he could admire his spreadsheet.

He did it because roster has holes.

And some of them are big enough to drive an 18-wheelers-thru.

I tell you what, man, there are some shows you just can't even, they can't start soon

up.

I'm Gidey.

I am pumped.

If you're joining us live, fire up that comment section, Jake Riemann, Nally Kerman, Bradford,

Banta, and guys, no banter.

In fact, just roll up the sleeves.

We are getting right into it.

Nat Bradford, Detroit line, the NFL.

I mean, let's, we could even start there.

The 2026 league year officially begins today.

And I think the NFL is drunk.

I mean, the headlines, the changes.

I can barely wrap my head around it.

I don't know.

Maybe I'm the only one feeling it.

By the way, lock down podcast number one sports podcast platform, like subscribe.

There we go.

Let's talk ball.

Talk ball.

Where you want to start?

I said in the group text, I'm just going to pull the string on both y'all and just let

y'all rip or just wind you up and let you go.

Well, you're a part of that, too, this is a three-year show.

I am ready to go.

I am ready to go.

Let's go.

All right.

I mean, let's do that because I, there's so many roster moves to get into with the lions.

We're going to spend the majority of that.

But I think we have to cross it off the list to at least open just because of the ramifications

for the national football league, what it had, how unprecedented the Max Crosby reversal

was.

That was going to be my first thought.

And even though it's not directly tied to the Detroit Lions, like when you see that

push notification, one, I thought it was fake, the world of misinformation we live in,

I thought no way is a trade rescinded and in the statement from the raiders that the

ravens have backed out, the semantics around the, you know, the statement of backing out,

the medicals.

There's so much.

Bradford, I'll kick it to you first because I love your NFL perspective.

Can is it, what does this remind you of anything?

It seemed like pretty unheard of, but here we are, Max Crosby is going to stay with the

ravens or the raiders and the ravens have already moved on to trade Hendrickson.

Yeah.

And you just see the domino effect here.

So the ravens were in the market to get an edge rusher.

I mean, that was very quite evident by what they were willing to give up to go and get

Max Crosby.

Now, all this was done in the legal tampering period, which the league year doesn't officially

begin until four o'clock Eastern time today.

So we're talking about roughly less than four hours from now.

Now none of these, everything is just being reported up until now in this legal tampering

period.

Tuesday and Wednesday today, now up until four o'clock.

Nothing is binding and this goes for everything and this is the business side of it.

Nothing is binding until the ink is dry on said contract.

And once the medical staff for the ravens, there's a couple different theories that you

can rabbit holes that you can go down here.

And my favorite, by the way, I love getting it.

Oh, yeah.

And we'll go down.

I mean, hey, we got an hour.

So the ravens medical staff performed a physical on Max Crosby and he had knee surgery done

and he had it done by one of the probably world renowned, at least highly respected orthopedic

surgeons in Dr. Ella Trosh in doing what he had to do inside of Max Crosby's knee.

The ravens medical staff and these are, you know, and I'm going to throw something out

there, you know, examine the knee and I'm sure MRIs, ultrasound, all this kind of stuff.

So the meniscus tear from what I have read, it was a major meniscus tear repair along

with other repairs that had to be done inside the knee and they did not like the structure

of Crosby's knee.

And that in and to itself, none of these trades take place or going to take place until

a physical is given to said player that is on the trading block and they get medical approval.

So that alone nixed the trade, their recommendation is they don't think that Crosby is going to

be able to bounce back and perform to his ability that he had before.

Now, Ella Trosh has since come out and given a statement in saying that Max Crosby is on

schedule, if not a little bit ahead of schedule, and you know, of where he should be after

this surgery was performed.

And it's, you know, it's covering tracks and stuff like that and then I'm going to throw

something out there, just, you know, hypothetical theory, whatever you want to go down a rabbit

hole, did the Ravens use this as a ploy to get the asking price for Tray Hendrickson down

or so knowing that they were going to, that they had 48, 48, what, 72 hours to play with

it, not to get the physical done.

And then also on the side negotiating with Tray Hendrickson to get his deal down to where

it was a manageable amount of money that they were willing to give Tray Hendrickson.

So what did they receive in return?

So they received, they, they're going to sign Tray Hendrickson.

This is the Ravens.

They don't have to give up draft picks, right, two first round picks and two first round

picks.

So they retained those picks.

They get an edge rusher that was probably ranked in the top two of in the free agent

class.

And on top of that, you know, they're, they're able to have, you know, the, the two draft picks.

And that's ultimately what had happened now, you know, so it's going to be a messy situation

for the, for the Raiders moving forward with, you know, is, Crosby going to be happy.

There's a lot of questions with him walking back into the building after everything that

was said, whenever he left the building, that, that's where the politics and, you know,

having a memory of an elephant come into play.

And I wonder how many people this caught off guard?

Because whenever you get into these business type dealings, talking about with creating

players, how, you know, as, as a business man and being involved in some of these situations

prior, you always have to think of different scenarios, what's going to happen, what could

possibly happen?

And you have to have answers for these and that's, you know, do the Raiders have an answer

for it?

I don't know.

We'll see.

Is Crosby still in the trading block?

If he's on the trading block now with what has come out with the Ravens, it's going,

it's not going to be two first round picks anymore because he got rejected from another team

for not following through with the trade because of health reasons.

It's, it's, it's, I think it's a brilliant move by the Ravens business wise to get what

they want out of an edge rusher and still retain their two picks that they have.

So that's my take.

It's just crazy as high caliber of a player that he is.

This is going to affect things from here on out for him because no one knows the exact

timetable of how the knee is going to continue to heal besides, I mean, even the surgeon has

a great idea, but still you, you just don't know come, you know, August, when preseason

games begin and then once the actual regular season starts in September, how he's going

to be.

And at that point, where he's going to be, if he is still going to be a raider or if

he's going to go elsewhere and I saw this tweet yesterday and I just had to show you guys,

come on, Max, come take a physical here and Detroit.

For those listening, it is a, I photo of Dan Campbell as a doctor and I mean, listen,

you might as well try and say, I mean, like, I'm sure you guys agree with me.

No, are you based on what we read?

How do we feel, I guess, overall about, like, would you want him here still?

Is it too risky?

Oh, no.

Yeah, I still can dream big and I've been saying it all along, but I don't think it's happening.

I think Bradford's on to something with this in a, I would say, I don't want to accuse

the Ravens of doing dirty business, but this kind of working out in their favor and being

a part of the plan, but I don't foresee a situation.

It'd be awesome if Max Crosby ended up elsewhere, but you know, I'm trying to hear and see

what the latest is from NFL insiders and so on.

It just, it seems like he's going back to stay with the Raiders who were super active in

free agency, both offensively and defensively.

You know, they, they got Tyler Lindermom, they got Quay Walker from the, the Packers.

They had Nicobie Dean as well.

So the Raiders all of a sudden have been super active and no, by the way, Max Crosby's coming

back.

He's just fascinating stuff and again, I don't, I, we got a lot of Lions stuff to talk about.

So I don't want to spend too much time on, on the non Lions news, but just league wide.

It's fascinating to see how this has developed and then drastically changed over the last

couple of days.

Yeah, it's, it's changed over the last couple of days, but also take this into consideration

with him going back to the Raiders and with the Raiders spending a fair amount in, in

free agency.

So now his salary goes back on the books and is included in their cap as well.

True.

So where does this leave them?

So do they are, you know, they're looking to restructure.

Yeah, the, the old, they're probably going to have to, they're going to have to.

Yeah, the old cap gymnastics for sure, which speaking of great segue Bradford Banta, because

we're going to get to the free agency signings, we're going to get to the roster retool and

we don't know exactly how the rest of the show is going to go timing wise, but you said

restructure and my ADHD brain is like, hey, Jared Goff, they finally, yes, they restructured

that contract and what everybody had been calling for for weeks.

I think for me, it was really when the chiefs restructured my homes, I was a couple of weeks

and I was like, all right, I mean, it's, it's got to be coming.

But everybody else, I think we could all take a collective sigh of relief.

I don't know.

Either of you guys read any of the speculation pieces that are always good about, oh, I haven't

they restructured Goff's contract yet?

Are they, are they trying to move on from Goff?

But the contract has been restructured and the Jared Goff fan club that I am a proud

member of and would like to, you know, audition for a board member of the Jared Goff fan club.

I can, I can continue that fandom moving forward because, let me, let me get the exact

details while we wrap about the Lions, okay, here it is.

So 40 million of Jared Goff's salary into assigning bonus, creating 32 million of cap space

for 2026.

Thank you, Spotrack.

I mean, it needed to happen.

I was waiting just, I mean, I think we both agreed as soon as the chiefs did it with

my homes, it was like, all right, what are we waiting for in order for the Lions to really

try and make any moves and consider anything for the future?

I, that needed to happen.

So I was so glad to see that come through amongst the 20 other notifications of different

things that we've been dissecting over the last couple of days.

Um, yeah, this is, I mean, this is great.

Is it, so it's a total of how much did you say for eating cap space?

Was it 32 mil?

32 mil?

Yeah.

Yeah.

For 2026.

It's a lot of green.

A lot of green.

Yeah.

Thank you.

JG 16.

No.

I mean, this is great.

And it makes you wonder too.

From here on out, like, when, if and when they're going to restructure Penays contract, I'm

on raw.

Like, there's more to do.

But Jared Goffs was the biggest one that you needed to get out of the way.

And so this creates room for Brad Holmes and company to hopefully make another move needs

to happen.

I think it will.

And this won't be the last move that they make, so to speak.

You know, I think we all know that Holmes does a very good job of holding his cards close

to the best and doesn't reveal anything until the time comes.

And whenever he speaks with agents, he's like, Hey, you know, we're doing all this on

the down low until it actually goes down.

And it's, you know, it's interesting to see.

And they're retooling the roster, obviously, with some of the people that we have lost,

some of the people that we have gained.

And it's, you know, it's a fun time of the year.

And here's a question I thought about before the show is how many people out there, you know,

are retooling their, their fantasy team, you know, with all the moves that are going

on, you know, yeah, really, okay.

But thank this far in advance, you know, before fantasy football again, I know there are

people out there that are doing it and they stay on top of it, but it's, it's a fun time

of year.

It's kind of nerve-racking for, for everybody involved and that's, and that's fans included.

And you know, that's why we have this type of forum to come out and voice your opinion.

And we love the opinions that are given by any and all that are, you know, that are

in the comments section.

For sure, for sure.

All right.

I think this is what I want to do.

We'll see if we're all on the same page here.

I'm a good news kind of guy.

I don't like bad news.

I don't like sad news.

So we're going to lead with the, the roster additions in the next set and the new signings

and then we'll inevitably face the reality of some of the departures and Bradford is going

to tell us that it's a business and get over your feelings, Jay Kreetma.

Get over here.

But being emotional, Bradford quit being emotional.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Bradford's the emotional guy on the show.

Look at that face.

How could you do that?

What a sweet heart.

It's sharp.

Not smile.

Back in a second, I locked out lion squad show.

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Get your smart ass comments and go ahead.

Okay.

Two cans.

Sam.

I was just, I was going to add that I really wanted a five hour energy.

Yeah.

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I appreciate that.

But all right, praise time.

We're in a good mood.

We're talking about some additional lions weapons to use.

Let's start at the running back position.

We'll get to the offensive line.

We'll get to some of the other additions, the backup quarterback, but Isaiah Pacheco will

be RB2 paired with Jameer Gibbs.

When this news broke, I was surprised and I started to dig into it a little bit more.

And that I'll go to you first because I, I don't want to speak for you, but you, you

were pretty excited with the addition.

Yeah, I, you know, well, the more I read about it yesterday, there was some people that

were, you know, disappointed on the season that he had last year in Kansas City.

But first glance, when I saw the notification pop up, I liked the pick because I, I, I

have overall in his career, like I have respected his game and appreciated who he is.

And he's had a couple great seasons in, in Kansas City.

So I, I was excited because I just, immediately I was like, oh, this is going to be an electric

backfield because they're, they both, I mean, obviously Gibbs brings the juice and the

speed.

Isaiah has some of those qualities, too, but he has more of that like angry run style to

him.

But made me realize my shirt, maybe can now be replaced with doing my summary angry

runs to Isaiah Pacheco angry run.

So hopefully we get some of those this season.

But you know, I, I, I like the vision, the more that I sit on it, I do.

I think he, he could have a revived year in Detroit.

You're looking at a guy like Gibbs doing what he does.

How can he not be motivated by that?

So I, I like the pairing together personally.

I think it'll bring, I think it's a good duo.

That's how I do.

Yeah, no, I agree with you.

Not it is a definitely, I think it's a good pairing.

I can speak back to whenever he was, whenever he was a runner at Rutgers and whenever I was

at Michigan, he was, I mean, he was a beast to deal with coming out of the backfield.

And you know, that was one of our big worries going into the game.

Whenever we did play Rutgers was having to deal with him, you know, and people were talking

about it down year and in this, that and the other, look, Zebra's not going to change

his stripes.

And he is what he is.

He's an angry runner.

He runs hard.

He can pick up the yardage.

And I know that Jake, you sent out some stats talking about whenever, you know, he's ranked

mid, whatever.

Oh, I've got, I've got them for, oh, he's ready.

He's ready.

Yeah.

So, you know, the thing that you also have to look at is, you know, just, you got to look

at his injury history, so to speak.

And you know, in his rookie year, he played in all 20 games, including the playoffs, no major

injuries.

You know, they had some ribs and shoulder.

But I'm not sure he missed, he missed time at the end of the season.

And then in 24, he ended up fracturing his fibula.

So he missed significant time there and then returned later in the season, which gave

the chief the significant bump in their running game.

And then last year, he, he only played in 13 games because of a knee and an MCL.

But that's what you're going to get with this type of runner.

He's going to give you all that he has whenever he is in the game.

Now it's up to the Lions to use him in the right situations and he's not going to be the

bell cow back, kind of like he was in Kansas City.

So that's going to leave a little bit more tread on the tire.

And I think that he's going to be able to make it all the way through the season.

And it's, and it's a good one to punch.

And if they use him, like they used Montgomery this past year, then it may be just a tick

more.

And I think it's, I think it's going to be a good match for the, for the offense, for

the Detroit Lions, but it is a, but I thought it was a good signing because it's a one year

deal, 1.8, you know, prove it, type contract.

And can he turn it into more?

And obviously there was not a home for him in Kansas City with the signing of Kenneth

Walker Jr. or the third, excuse me, the third in Kansas City, coming off his Super Bowl

MVP performance.

So look, as far as matchups go, and putting him in the offense with a, probably a 50, 50,

run pass type situations, and then having Jameer Gibbs as the premier back in this offense,

and then putting him into spell Gibbs and giving him just, you know, an X amount of plays

per game.

I think he's going to be very effective.

And I said earlier in the show, I'm a, I'm a good news guy.

And I initially interpreted this as an exciting replacement, RB2.

And these are not my stats, and it also should be noted that I think one of my favorite

sayings are there are three types of lies, intentionally falsifying white lies, kind

of fibbing and statistics.

You can manipulate statistics to say whatever you want.

But this was from Warren Sharp on Isaiah Pacheco among 49 running backs with at least 100 attempts.

And 100 attempts is not some incredible data point of, you know, a ton of, a ton to go

off of.

So basically five point, what, two again, right, yeah, five a game or whatever you want

to say.

Yeah.

Okay.

Number 46 and an explosive run rate at 3.4%.

Number 47 in longest rush at 16 yards on 118 attempts.

Number 47 in success rate.

Number 38 in yards per carry.

And these are all, again, this is out of 49 running backs.

He adds, this is despite Pacheco facing the NFL's highest rate of light boxes and lowest

rate of seven plus or eight plus box defenders last season.

Now, again, lots unpacked there, lots to digest.

I think it's difficult to take a sample size from a completely different offense, a completely

different game plan and try to project that into what he'll look like in a Detroit

Lions uniform in a Detroit Lions offensive game plan.

And on top of that, a new offensive coordinator with Petsing way too many variables for there

to be a immediate negative reaction like my dumb brain had when I read the tweet.

So this is me, uh, audibly, and sorry you guys have to suffer through this, but I'm audibly

talking myself out of those statistics and thinking, all right, it's a fresh, clean slate

in the Honolulu blue with through Petsing, with Jamir Gibbs and hopefully a re-tooled offensive

line.

And just like that, I feel better already.

Just got to talk it out.

Exactly.

Therapy sash.

No, but I mean, I, I, I feel like you can't, to your point, it is a small sample size.

You said 49.

No, it was 49 running backs had at least 100 plus carries last season.

And he ranks 46, 47, so near, it doesn't sound great.

No, no, but like when you sent us that too, I thought, well, you got to give this guy

the benefit of the doubt when you do go to a new system.

I think you do.

It obviously, I mean, Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell, they do all their research too.

And they, you know, had all those stats in front of them.

I'm sure similar stats or whatever, like whatever they were looking at before making

this move.

And they feel strongly enough that he can be productive here with the Lions.

And so I just got to, we got to trust that.

I think we got to trust that, right?

A little bit.

And that's how, that's how I look at it.

But Brad, Bradford, are we both wrong or?

No.

I, I just, you come in as like the person to tell us, you guys do this shut up.

No, no, no, no, no, no, I, I personally, I mean, you know, Brad and Dan aside, I personally

love the pick because I love watching the player play.

Yeah.

And, you know, he played in 13 games last year with the, with the MCL knee type deal.

Okay.

How many games did he play in last year with that injury?

And, you know, I mean, look, there's so many factors that go into this and Jake spitting

out all these stats and all this stuff.

You know, it's just like, like you said, I mean, you can manipulate the stats, the stats

anyway you want.

And those guys have done their homework and it's a one year deal and they're looking for

him to bounce back and, you know, and just be part of lion's nation.

And they want him to prove it.

And basically, you know, Brad and Dan just want the team to prove it because they know

what they have and they know what that locker room is.

They know the culture that they have established.

Bring him in and bring that gritty style of runner, a runner that Pacheco is and he's

going to get the tough yards for you, whether it's, you know, five, six, seven or eight in

the box.

And that's where the retooling of the offensive line comes into play.

Now Jake, with your stats, did they include?

The offensive line stats for the Kansas City chiefs that reason they didn't make the

playoffs as well last year, because they saw, you have a right tackle that lines up even

with the running back in a deep set every time that he lines up on the offensive line.

I mean, and he doesn't get called why because, well, that's what he does every time.

No, that's BS.

No, there's a reason the rules are in place.

Call it.

I, I said I was talking myself out of the, you know, feeling a certain type of way, but

after the tongue lashing from Bradford, I feel even, I feel even more on that in that camp.

But which is also hilarious because me being a stat guy is, is laughable because I can't

remember stats or numbers to save my life.

So, but if, if that's a label I get, I will, I will gladly take it until I lose that

label inevitably when I try to remember some other stat and it doesn't work out.

But from the running back position to the offensive line, the Lions have their center from

the Carolina Panthers who have also been so active.

I feel like, again, it's worth noting the NFL free agency now starting the official

league year for Eastern today.

It's just, it feels like it's been crazier than ever.

But the Lions pick up Cade Mays and this is a guy that, former Tennessee volunteer talked

with a morning show host at the fan today, it was like, I love this for you guys.

He's perfect for Detroit and he has that, you know, a row greater style, he's just going

to absolutely dominate in the trenches, plays through the whistle, so many different characteristics

that make sense in a Lions uniform and part of that restructuring and retooling of the

offensive line.

But when I saw this one guys, I, I was fired up, Nat.

Yeah, I was fired up too based on what I read and I wanted to pull up some of the comments

that I was going through as soon as they signed him.

The Panthers really wanted him back, you know, but they didn't want to pay him the, you

know, three year, 25 million dollar contract.

So, you know what, welcome to Detroit, Cam Mays.

Obviously, I was, obviously, filling the trenches has been the Lions first point of emphasis

this off season and they're going to need to keep addressing it, you know, especially

now with no Taylor Decker as well.

But it sounds like he was a great guy, good culture fit here, which is obviously important

to to Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes.

So I, I mean, it just sounds like he's a perfect to be a lion.

It is what I read in a general sense.

So I'm excited, you know, we need someone fresh to anchor the line and I feel like this

is going to be a good move.

Let's see, what else did I have on here?

Yeah, just a lot of people, Panthers fans reacting pretty, like negatively, like they're,

they're really sad about this.

So anytime a fan base is sad, you know, you're getting so good.

How about you Bradford?

What do you see when you watch the film?

Yeah, I look, I think he's a good player.

I think he made himself into a center because he was originally a guard whenever he came

out from the University of Tennessee.

And he, you know, he made himself, you know, because I think because of injury, he took

over the starting center position.

And for him to take over that position and be the, you know, quote unquote, the center

of attention in the offensive line, I think it speaks to his leadership ability and, and

his, he's able to get things done.

And I look, I think, you know, it's not, I know, but I think it's going to be a good fit

for somebody to come into this position and fill in where a void was had.

Now, you know, Glasgow was a guard that they made a center.

And you know, I just hope that Cade Mays is a communicator.

And he should be, you know, if he's, if he's your typical offensive lineman, he's going

to be a grinder and then being in that, at that, or at that center position, he's going

to need, need to know the protection calls, put everybody in the right position to keep

Jared golf uniform clean for the entire game.

And I, I think he's going to do that.

And look, he had, you know, he had Bryce Young down in Carolina at quarterback.

Now, we're talking about two totally different athletes here, talking between Bryce Young

and Jared golf.

But at least you know where golf is going to be for most, most, most of the time.

Uh, Bryce Young was not a true dropback passer, you know, Jared golf is, uh, it all depends

on in petsing offense is how deep is he going to be dropping?

If he's going to be dropping 10 yards, you better go out and find the most athletic tackle,

that you have.

We already have one, which I foresee him moving over to the left side.

Now, we need to go over and find a right tackle that can come in and fill that void if he's

going to be dropping at 10 yards.

Uh, but if he's dropping shorter than that, that's where the guard center guard play comes

into, comes into play.

So to speak, because now you have to protect the pocket.

And that's where Cade Maze with his protection calls and putting that offensive line and the

running back and tight end in position to protect Jared golf.

So then he can get the ball out to his receivers, running backs and tight ends, 400 percent.

And the last addition, speaking of leadership, Bradford, Banta, Teddy two gloves.

He's back.

The backup quarterback, you got to love it.

I saw this one.

It just made my, I mean, I think it's pushing the inevitable can down the, down the road

a little bit, because who knows how many years Teddy two gloves has left, but at least

for the foreseeable immediate future, QB2, that whole is secured with Teddy Bridgewater coming

back.

And, you know, for everything that he stands for and not sound like a broken record, but

checks the boxes with the culture fit.

And this one felt like another no brainer.

And when, you know, it was finalized or at least announced that I was, I was fired up

to see this one too.

Me too.

He's, you know, he's loved here in Detroit, especially by that coaching staff.

I feel like they just, they have a great relationship.

I remember Dan Campbell and Teddy, like I just remember a lot of moments watching them

on the sideline together.

Like they just, I feel like he's a perfect fit, good glue guy, obviously a, you know, veteran

at this point, but he was coaching what high school football last I know.

So I was like, I just, Teddy, bring him back.

You know what I mean?

Like, and honestly, it didn't surprise me when I read that.

I'm like, of course, they'd bring him back.

Like I just, that, that was my immediate reaction to it.

But yeah, I mean, as soon as Kyle Allen said he was going to the bills or when I read that

notification, I'm like, okay, well, now there's another hole yet to fill.

But why not bring Teddy back?

I, you know, he, I just, it makes me happy.

I just like him as a person.

I'll say this about Teddy because we had him in New Orleans, whenever I was on the coaching

staff.

Right.

And in 18 and just, you, Nat, you brought up a very good point about being the glue in

the locker room, watching him interact with all of his teammates and getting everyone involved

in the locker room and just in just him being himself.

And there's a reason he was a successful high school football coach.

And because of what he brought to the table and the way he leads and it's a, it's an outgoing

personality style that's very subdued.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Yeah.

He, he draws you in by just being himself.

I thought this was a, a great signing by the Lions and the great part about it is that he

doesn't have to worry about buying people lunch.

So you're going to provide lunch for him at the complex.

So he doesn't have to worry about providing lunch for any of his teammates.

Yeah.

Wasn't it Uber drivers too?

He was paying for kids Uber's so they could get to practice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, what a guy.

That's all you need to hear.

Come on.

Yeah.

Well, I, I think, and I, I don't know this.

So this is in pencil.

I think the, the state of Florida's athletic association, high school athletic association changed

some of the rules and there's some kind of things that were passed so that if that happens

in the future, he's not, you know, whoever is helping, you know, team members out.

And that way doesn't get, doesn't get the sanctions or whatever it was that he had to deal

with.

But anyways, we have, we've pushed back this conversation probably as long as we have,

as we can, the inevitable departures that have taken place.

We felt good for the first 40 minutes of the program, but we've got to also face the

music.

Who did the Lions lose and who are moving on?

Next on the Lockdown Lion Squad Show.

This episode of the Lockdown Lion Squad Show is brought to you by our good friends over

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All right, cruising right along, who do we want to start with?

No longer Detroit line.

Maybe get the hardest ones out of the way first.

All right.

Now, which one hit you the hardest?

I'm looking at my list right now.

I mean, what one hit me the hardest?

I would say, you knew Anzaloni, you knew that was coming, but Amique Robertson surprised

about that one as well.

All right.

You said too that didn't hit me the hardest.

No.

No.

No, I'm saving mine.

Don't say it.

Don't say it.

I'm saving mine.

All right.

Oh, I think I know who you're going to say.

Let's go with Alex Anzaloni because I think we'll start with him because I do think

that one.

The writing was on the wall for the longest amount of time.

And the production, the production was there.

There was the weird social media tiff with the lines.

Yeah.

They were in social, not included.

Yeah.

The rumors that he, you know, reunion with Aaron Glenn in New York with the Jets.

That didn't happen.

Alas, he is a Tampa Bay Buccaneer and moving on.

Bradford, I guess I'll go to you because, you know, this is what I'm going to say.

This is one that felt like, all right, you always preach.

It's a business.

It's a business.

It's a business.

We kind of, again, saw the writing on the wall with this one.

Yeah.

He was going somewhere, right?

Right.

You just didn't know where.

And, you know, he's got to find the right fit for him if he wasn't going to be in Detroit

and was it New York?

Obviously not.

He's going to head down to a Todd Bowles style defense and, you know, look for him to

be productive there as well.

Is it a, yeah, it's a loss for the Detroit lines and it's going to be a situation that

they're going to have to address.

And we've talked about it before and past shows is there's a reason they were able to stay

in base was because of Alex's ability to cover one on one and stay in base defense

whenever they were in 11 personnel, meaning one tight end, one running back in three wide

receivers.

And he was able to cover basically the tight end or the running back one on one or possibly

even a slot receiver one on one.

And it's, yeah, it's, it's going to hurt, but, you know, how do you, how do you overcome

that?

Well, you overcome that by going out and getting a better pass rush.

And that's, you know, it's, it, it, it, it helps.

Not only helps your linebacker core, but it also helps your secondary, which they need

to get assistance in that area as well.

But losing Anzaloni and that coverage ability, I'll be curious to see who they bring in

or what the defensive philosophy is going to be moving forward.

The defense is just getting an overhaul right now.

So I mean, no, I mean, Robert's in now too.

Well, it was, it was funny, you know, because we had talked about it, you know, and, and

the, the comment that I wrote in our, in our tech chain that we had, it seems like the

parts were better than the whole, you know, people just coming in and cherry picking some

of our free agents, possible free agents that we have.

Right.

Yeah, we had some good players on defense.

It was just, you know, it was, it was glaring.

And whenever you don't have a starting, a secondary that plays together, not an entire

year, but a majority of the season, yeah, you're going to suffer.

And with other teams, double and triple team and hutch coming off the edge, knowing that

they don't have to worry about the other three as much, it's, it's, it's a problem for

the defense that they have to fix.

All right.

And Saloni back home to Florida, a meek to Washington, Jake, I'm, I'm ready for your thoughts

on this.

I mean, or who hurt you the most because those two sound like didn't hit as hard.

Well, yeah, they did, but like Bradford has, has taught me that this is a business.

Um, so I, too, yeah, no, and, and I don't really have a lot to add.

You guys covered it perfectly because the, the next one and as a special teams guy,

Bradford, Banta, I think you can appreciate it.

And, and I think there was, there was still a lot of meat on the bones for what he could

do as a wide receiver, but, uh, our guy, Khalif Raymond is, and, and on top of that,

going to a divisional rival in the Chicago Bears, it's, uh, tough filled a swallow because

I just, I, you know, the, yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say.

Like, no, no, you're exactly right.

The competitor and me's like, I don't, I don't want those guys to be happy.

No, like, come on.

And, and they're reunion and there's even, um, I saw one tweet that Taylor Decker is in

conversations with the Bears, uh, as well.

So I'll, yeah, add a little more fuel to the rivalry though, which is, uh, I guess

ultimately makes it compelling and, and, uh, you know, what, what's, what it's all about.

But yeah, I saw the, and then, um, now I think you shared, I'm on Ross St Brown's tweet

in our group chat that he said, uh, he was the greatest teammate I've ever had.

Locker mates since rookie year, sad face.

Love you, brother.

And now this is the part that's like, oh, get, you know, it's in the fields.

Bradford's amongst Bradford, can we, don't lie, Jake and I crying over here.

Yeah, Bradford, can I send you the promo code for better help?

Get you in touch with, uh, one of the therapists, you know, get, get you in tune to those

feelings and, uh, get you a feeling some empathy.

No, you need to send that promo code for the ethos, the life insurance policy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, if you could do that, that would be great.

So, yeah, it's bound to happen.

It's already happened just talking about some of our players going over to the Chicago

Bears because of Ben Johnson's familiarity with our roster, with the Detroit

lines roster.

And it's, you know, and this is the business side coming out and it's a four hour drive

and their motor and across 94, you know, taking, I don't know, a couple of the toll roads

working their way up to Lake Forest and then whenever they're playing their game, if

they're either going to Arlington Heights, or they're going across the border in Indiana

to play the games for the Chicago Bears, yeah, that's so if, if nothing else, if the

bears become the Gary Indiana bears, we will always have that on them because there

are a few armpits in our great country of the United States of America and having driven

from what, what I would drive from Northwestern home, having to go through Gary, Indiana, I

would just look around and no disrespect, which means I'm going to say something very

disrespectful and just thank the good Lord that I am just driving through here.

I do not need to stop and nor would I ever stop in Gary, Indiana.

So that's, that's my two cents on Gary Indiana home of the Jackson five, baby Michael Jackson,

Michael Jackson.

That's about it.

Yeah, the, they've got the, I think it's the Gary railcats, the rail, they play at the

rail yard.

Yeah, you can see it off the interstate, yes, I would drive by there all the time.

But no, this one, yeah, like you said, there's the familiarity with Ben Johnson, there's the

division rival component to it all and if Taylor Decker ends up there, then, you know,

it's, it's Cleveland and Taylor Decker there that Ben Johnson is poaching from the Lions.

But that was the one that, that really got me because I, I think he had a unique way of

impacting games and, and sometimes unexpected moments that game against the Cleveland Browns,

he had that punt return for a touchdown.

I know the Browns are terrible this year.

That was a game that was not hanging in the balance.

I think ultimately the Lions win that game no matter what, but it just totally changed

the, the, the direction of that game with that punt return and he was always capable of

those big plays when you least expected it.

But we got one more segment and I think what I want to do, we have a very short segment,

we're just going to do a, a run through of every transaction that's happened because

we've done some deep dive on everything.

Yeah, yeah, get wild guys, buckle up, it's going to be crazy.

You know, when you're locked on Lions, Squad Show is back in just a second.

All right, told you to be just a second.

We literally so quick.

Oh, quick.

Yeah, I don't know if we're keeping the lights on at lockdown headquarters without any

adries there.

But all right, full comprehensive list here, I'm sure there's a lot of these lists out

here, but I am using pride of Detroit's list.

So let's go ahead and give them credit.

They do such a great job and just going to run down these, stop me when you want to

have a discussion about any, any of these, starting with signed by the line, you got

Teddy Bridgewater, Kade Maze, we talked about that one.

The offensive tackle, Larry Borm from the dolphins, we have not talked about this one.

I reached out to my dolphins contact and he said, let me pull it up right here, solid

swing tackle, filled in nicely for Austin Jackson at right tackle last year.

It wasn't great on the bears before joining the dolphins, but really helped his stock in

one year in Miami.

So there you go.

The right tackle parts, interesting with the conversation Bradford, you brought up where

maybe Penne Sule would be leaving the right tackle to move over the left, but a depth

signing, I feel like that could, could help the lines offensive line.

Yeah, I mean, they're not, yeah, I mean, you could say they're plug and holes, they're

adding depth, they're adding quality depth, they're adding players with experience to come

in and fill a void.

Now, is he going to take over for Skipper in playing that big tight end?

So that's a thought there.

How much does pet scene want that involved in his offense?

I don't know, but it's become something of a regular occurrence here with the offensive

system, especially with Ben Johnson and then Johnny Morton slash Dan Campbell over the

last four years.

So we'll see what happens.

Yeah, I feel like when I first started reading about him too, don't know a lot, but

when I saw Swing Tackle, I thought, well, this is the replacement for Dan Skipper or

you'd think it would be.

So yeah, bring it on.

If he revived his career a little bit in Miami, that's a good sign and probably one of the

lines wanted to bring him here as well.

Of course, he was on the bears before all these, all these, all your bears now, they're

just, my blood boils a little bit.

Yeah, I love that, I love that.

But I'm on the same page as you are Jake, so we could go on, we could go look at that.

Yeah, yeah, a little ping pong action, what, what, what, what, what, what next, yeah?

All right.

So Pacheco next already hit on it, already deep dive.

Players acquired via trade, juice scrugs, juice, bring in the juice, Lyon's released Graham

Glasgow, Taylor Ducker, Lyon's traded, David Montgomery, check, I'm already sad, I know.

Now, now Lyon's free agents resigned.

All right.

Okay.

Are we ready?

We got Rock, you're seen in there in the second half guys coming back, bringing the Rock

back to Detroit, one year, $4 million deal.

Depth piece.

Depth piece, for sure, Rodrigo, he's coming back.

Oh, yeah.

I meant to text that one, that's, that's a personal favorite of mine, just from the Hard

Nox episode.

Um, all those.

Remind me what, from Hard Nox with him, like, they, they, I was like a day in the life

of Rodrigo and they, he, they followed him getting a cowboy hat somewhere and, um, and

I, just like the, the fact that his name is Malcolm Rodriguez and somehow some way,

we're calling him Rodrigo and he's like, yeah, I'd never been called that before.

I wonder how, but yeah, but, um, but no, I just, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

I, he's, you root for those late round draft picks that seem like they're great, uh, um,

locker room guys and, you know, team first mentality, all the cliches that we say all

the time, but I, I think he embodies that and, uh, also a guy, I think it was Oklahoma

State fifth or sixth round, but I, I just think he, he's over achieved and, and continued

to grow and develop to be an impactful player and, and a depth piece on a defense that

can be utilized.

Yeah, I look, I, I love the signing and this is coming from a, you know, from a special

team's point of view.

Yeah, you, you can, you know, you can go in the day in the life of and go get the cowboy

hat and all that kind of stuff, but show me out on the field, right?

What, what, what have you, basically, what have you done for me lately?

I always go back to Kelvin Shepard in the linebacker meeting room whenever they were on

hard knocks and him just lamb basting all the vet, I mean, not all the veterans, but

I'm enjoying the veterans, yes, in the meeting room and telling them that this rookie is

outperforming them and is a better pro than a majority of the guys in the room.

Yeah.

And that's what hits home.

And that's the type of players that you want.

Yeah, that scene, as soon as you said that, like, ding, I could remember watching that

scene and lamb basting is a good word for it.

And that was like part, we talked about Kelvin Shepard in the way he's like, can relate

and, and get in guys bubbles.

That was one that you saw firsthand the intensity of it all where it's not always, you know,

putting out his arm around guys and, you know, it's, he has the other side to him too,

where he was just getting in guys' grills and the other side of that being complementing

Rodrigo for how he, how well he was playing as a rookie.

I have another guy to that signed elsewhere that Bradford has not brought up yet.

And I know it's a favorite of yours.

Lopez.

Yes.

Yeah.

I like the player.

You know, he's just, he's everything that embodies.

He goes in probably averages 15 plays a game, but whenever he's in, he just makes a difference.

And he made a difference this past season.

And whenever he was in there, I mean, you know, you look at him on the hook or on the

hook, it's, you're like, okay, but then you watching play and they put him in positions

and he put himself in position to make plays.

And that's what he did.

He made a difference this past year in a, with a defensive, you know, in a group,

meaning the defensive line, that performed average.

Let's just call it what it is.

He stood out among, let's just say the defensive tackles.

So he's going back to the Cardinals.

Makes sense.

But sad for us, going to miss the pony tail.

Oh, yeah, you guys remember, that's the most important part of the players game is,

you know, the hair, Anzaloni.

Well, God, we're missing all the best hair styles now.

Oh, yeah.

What about mine?

You got the, you got the, you got the, you got more to do.

Yeah, you got the big red Montgomery style that wasn't, didn't he have the shapes at

or at least short hair?

Sure, Jake.

Yep.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Full air there, Jake.

Yeah, the full air there.

I don't know.

So Jake, did I miss any?

Um, no, I think you got.

Yeah, we talked about, uh, Khalif, we talked about Kyle Allen.

Uh, we love us.

Oh, tender applied to kicker, Jake Bates.

I don't know, but like that, like that,

uh, always rooting for those success stories out of the XFL.

RIP to the Michigan Panthers, right?

Didn't they fizzle out?

Yeah.

No, they're, uh, they're one of the three teams in the UFL that, uh, got reassigned

a different city.

So I know it's, uh, let's see, Columbus, Louisville, Orlando, or the new cities

that they're playing at.

Why would they leave Michigan?

Uh, it's simply, simply because they have an

influx of new money, uh, uh,

holy the vitamin water, uh, owner.

I mean, he's self made, he's worth, let's just say he's worth a lot of money.

And he came in with a little bit different business plan.

And instead of the traditional professional footballs or traditional football

stadiums, they're now going to be playing all of the games in soccer stadiums,

which I had experienced with whenever they were building so far.

We would go out whenever I was with, uh, with the Saints.

We would go out and scrimmage the chargers every, you know, have a, you know,

cross two team scrimmage for a couple of days and then go play a game, uh,

preseason game.

And we were able to play in the soccer stadium down in industrial city, California.

And it's, it's probably, you know, 30, 35,000 seat stadiums.

It's just more intimate.

Yeah, setting for the game and it looks like you, you can, it's easier to fill it

to capacity rather than have these vast voids of just emptiness for seats,

which I think it's a good, but good move on the UFL spark.

Yeah, I agree.

It makes it feel like there's more people in there, you know, like then instead of

being in the field like us, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think they, they did that, uh, the Arlington team that wanted, um,

I don't know if it was last year or two years ago, but they would play where,

I believe we're FC Dallas played same kind of thing soccer stadium.

So you felt like it was more full.

But man, what a great episode, guys.

An hour, an hour gone by already.

It flew by.

It always does.

Yeah.

And, uh, you know what, we, we'll, we'll keep it rolling.

Lockdown Lions, Matt Derry will have more on the daily show.

That's why you like that's why you subscribe, all that good stuff.

And the number one sports podcast platform, the lockdown podcast network,

audio version available wherever you get your podcasts.

And we are back on, let me check, let me check this piston schedule.

Good to see them get back in the wind column yesterday.

Now against a, a tough net team that beat them on Saturday.

Needed it, needed it, needed it, all right.

Looks like we, we've got pistons, wizards next Tuesday and, uh,

pistons, wizards also next Thursday, right?

Yep.

As your, as your travel games, yes, as your travel agent,

I'm working on this calendar for you here, Matt.

So we will likely be on a Monday, Wednesday, next week, penciled in question,

mark, uh, no, actually.

So we can always take this off air, too.

I think the audience loves, loves here, you know, the behind the scenes,

pull back the curtain.

How does the really sophisticated lockdown lion squad show plan out when they'll

do episodes?

Yeah, well, you know, it takes some deep planning, but an understanding,

but that's why we're all friends.

And we're all, we work together here, um, collaborative effort, collaborative

effort, for sure.

So I am not on next week's road trip, but I will still be out of town.

So we may have to push these episodes towards the end of the week.

All right, we're, we're, we are going to take this off like a Wednesday,

Thursday, a Wednesday, Friday, if that works for y'all.

We will, uh, we'll, our people will get in contact with your people who will

get in contact with Bradford's people and the model of the story,

make sure you have the notification set up and we'll be on next week at some

point for Bradford, that's right.

The 20 year NFL veteran, the sideline report for the Detroit pistons on

Fandall sports, that work, Natalie Kerwin.

My name is Jake Reed, but thanks so much for tuning in.

We'll see you next time on the lockdown lion squad show.