Best of the Rest

On Friday, June 5, Senior NFL Report Adam Caplan posted the best available free agents that are still currently available. He broke the story up into two separate pages; best available offensive players and best available defensive players. While Detroit made some major off-season personnel changes (turning over more than half the roster already), there are still some players out there that are more than capable of shoring up or adding depth to some positions that haven't yet been addressed. Despite these drastic personnel changes, both sides of the ball could benefit from the signing of a few of these free agents. Offensively, the addition of free agent LT Levi Jones might not hurt. Jones has proven to be a talent at the LT position. However, he's also shown that he's had some trouble staying on the field; primarily due to leg injuries (most often to either the knee or foot). While he might be a talent upgrade at LT, fact is that he hasn't proven to be able to stay on the field and that's hurting him. Our current LT, Jeff Backus, has been almost a polar opposite, starting every game of his career, just not showing the same talent level. Defensively, the recently released Dallas Cowboy Greg Ellis who plays DE or OLB (in a 3-4), could add talent, depth and some leadership to a Defensive Line, specifically to the young stable of Defensive Ends. Staying with the Defensive Line, former St. Louis Ram DT La'Roi Glover could also add some much needed veteran leadership to the defensive line. He and "Mount Jackson" (Grady Jackson) could prove to be a much needed run stuffing force to the interior of this line. It's anybody's guess as to whether this coaching staff will add/change another face. Two reasons why this staff may be waiting to sign anyone: 1. they hold the "ace" (first priority) when it comes to the waiver wire, and 2. They may be waiting for the start of camp, watching to see who may be a roster casualty. Also, don't leave out the fact that they may be happy with the current roster up front and could be planning to give the youth a chance to prove their places on the roster.

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