Empty the Bench

I swear the following statements are written without a hint of sarcasm, irony, or humor: the Detroit Lions have made three absolutely excellent personnel moves in the past month. They have shown wisdom and foresight, been proactive, and made steps in the right direction towards turning their loser of a franchise into one that can actually succeed sometime during our lifetimes. At a minimum, the Lions can have real hope, optimism, and a belief that things actually can get better sometime after this season comes to its merciful conclusion.

All it took was firing their GM, permanently benching their starting quarterback, and trading away one of their star wide receivers for a bounty of draft picks. Before we get to the shocking trade today that sent WR Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys, here’s yet another indictment of the Millen Era in Motown: Williams’ departure now means that all of Detroit’s first-round draft picks from 2002 – 2005 are gone, vamoose, donezo… and in the case of Charles Rogers, trying in vein to scrape up $8.5 million.

First, the news of the day: interim GM Martin Mayhew made his case to have the “interim” removed from his title by completely hoodwinking the Cowboys in this Williams deal. In return for Roy Williams and a 7th-round pick, the Lions receive Dallas’ first-, third- and sixth-round picks in next April’s draft.

You have got to be f’ing kidding me. It’s nearly the Herschel Walker deal in reverse for Dallas.

Now, Roy Boy is (somewhat of) a brand-name player, or at least as much as one can be having donned a Lions uniform for the entirety of his career. Drafted 7th overall out of Texas in the ‘04 draft, Williams–who’ll turn 27 years old in December–enjoyed his finest season in 2006, racking up 82 catches for 1,310 yards and 7 TDs. Take that season out, however, and what you’re left with is an extremely talented receiver who makes the difficult catches, often drops the really easy ones, and who failed to top 836 yards receiving in three other full seasons.

He has a big mouth, is inconsistent, can be flashy on the field, and is equally capable of making both big and boneheaded plays; in other words, he’s a perfect fit for these Dallas Cowboys.

I won’t spend much time here analyzing what Williams adds to the ‘Boys, but I do wonder how much better this team actually got by adding Williams to the fold… especially with Tony Romo out for 4-6 weeks and 40-year-old Brad Johnson behind center in the meantime. There are only so many footballs to go around between Williams, Terrell Owens, Marion Barber, Jason Witten, et al, and last time I checked the Cowboys offense wasn’t the problem–it was that inconsistent defense spearheaded by a secondary that’s in shambles.

And in case you missed it, our buddy Pacman “We Won’t Call You Adam” Jones was suspended indefinitely today for his role in a hotel fracus last week, so perhaps Jerry Jones should have been targeting a cornerback at today’s trade deadline, not a WR? Then again, stockpiling wide receivers is a proven path to glory… right, Matt Millen?

Speaking of Millen, one of the best things about this trade for Detroit isn’t just that they’ve scored a gaggle of valuable draft picks–it’s that Millen won’t be around to fuck them up next spring. And really, despite Roy Boy’s brand-name identity, this was much too high of a price for the Cowboys to pay. Yes, they deserve credit for immediately inking Williams to a five-year contract extension, ensuring he’ll play out the prime of his career in Dallas, but we’ve seen over the past few years that given proper scouting, talented, productive, Pro-Bowl caliber receivers can be had in just about any round of the draft. But whatever.

This piece isn’t about the Cowboys. It’s about the Lions turning another page, attempting to shore up their massive roster holes, and moving forward in a more positive direction with yet another of Millen’s picks jettisoned elsewhere. The sooner his legacy as Lions GM is wiped clean, the better it’ll be for one of the longest-suffering franchises in all professional sports.

More on the Detroit Lions and the possible dawn of a new day after the break…

Jon Kitna Sacked for the Last Time as a Lion

Roy Williams wasn’t the only Lion tied to trade rumors the past few weeks. Ex-starting quarterback Jon Kitna, who sat out last week’s “thrilling” 12-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a sore back, was likely also shopped around before Tuesday’s 4pm trade deadline. Teams like the Cowboys, New England Patriots, and San Franciso 49ers, where he would have been reunited with Mike Martz, were listed as the most likely destinations, but nothing happened.

Nothing except for Detroit Lions management all but ensuring Kitna has taken his last snap wearing a honolulu blue jersey.

Despite his guess that he’d be ready to play in “1 or 2 weeks,” Kitna was placed on Injured Reserve, effectively ending his 12th NFL season after suiting up in just four games. Now in his third campaign with the Lions, Kitna posted consecutive 4,000+ yards passing seasons and totaled a combined 39 TD passes during that span. He started 36 consecutive games, showed some toughness by never succumbing to injury (until now), and clearly wanted to win, badly.

He’s not a bad guy, but unfortunately, despite the somewhat impressive stats, he is a bad quarterback. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been at the local watering hole watching a Lions game, shouting with exasperation at Kitna to just throw the damn ball away instead of taking a sack or throwing into traffic for an easy interception. Over the course of his 36-game career as the Lions’ starting QB, Kitna was sacked an astounding 129 times (most in the league in both ‘06 and ‘07), threw 47 interceptions, and lost 16 fumbles. Folks, that’s not just terrible–that’s really, really hard to watch.

At 0-4 heading into last Sunday’s action, the Lions clearly weren’t going anywhere this year, again, and there was no reason to keep trotting Kitna out there week after week. Not with two young guys waiting in the wings on the bench whom the Lions need to try out. The team’s ‘05 fifth-round pick, Dan Orlovsky, was somewhat respectable in his debut against the Vikings, going 12-21 for 150 yards and 1 TD; he was a little Kitna-esque, though, in taking 6 sacks.

He may get another chance to start this week when Detroit travels to Houston to take on the Texans, but at some point soon it’ll be last year’s second-round pick, Drew Stanton, who should get the full audition. After spending last year on IR with a knee problem–and suffering a broken finger in the preseason–the former Michigan State Spartans star should be fully healthy by Week 8, if not this week, and is the guy Detroit’s more committed to in the long run. Plus he’s a local product, and the Lions will take any selling point they can get at the moment.

No matter how it plays out with Orlovsky and Stanton, it was time for Kitna to be taken out of the picture. His days were clearly numbered, so it makes sense to start establishing any possible chemistry now between one of the young guys and stud-in-waiting Calvin Johnson. And if neither inspires long-term confidence, it’ll be time to be go back to the drawing board once again during the offseason. But, again–at least it won’t be Millen pulling the trigger.

Matt Millen Redux

We already covered the permanent eradication of Matt Millen from Detroit’s front office a few weeks ago on the day he was canned. Give it a full read; here’s an excerpt:

It’s not a Super Bowl win, it’s not a playoffs win… it’s not even a winning record. All of those things would be nice, but by now the Lions faithful know better. They don’t ask for much and they don’t expect much. Year after year after year of football futility at its worst has gradually worn them down like an old chunk of weathered granite on a salty ocean shore.

They’ve learned to live with the losing, and the Thanksgiving Day embarassments, and the worthless draft picks. The inept coaching staffs and the shoddy gameplans and the washed-up players. With the poor tackling, swinging door defenses, and penalties. Oh, how Lions fans have grown to expect those penalty flags rather than be angered by them.

Detroit Lions fans are a resilient bunch, and though the lack of success on the field might leave them drunk, bitter, and disgusted on autumn Sunday afternoons like clockwork, most of them pick up the paper the next morning, laugh it all off in an exasperated chuckle, then do it over again next Sunday… even if just to see what could possibly happen next. (And it usually does.)

Say it with me now, Lions fans, and know that we collectively speaketh the truth: Matt Millen has been fired. He’s gone. He’s done. He’s history. Ding dong the dickhead is dead.

It was perhaps the biggest and best step in the right direction this franchise has taken in a long time. Little did we know a few short weeks ago that Millen’s dismissal would have somewhat of a domino effect on the franchise… and the carnage probably isn’t over. Head coach Rod Marinelli still sits with ass firmly planted on the hot seat–along with the rest of his coaching staff. Mayhew, a self-professed “Millen guy,” could very well be replaced in a few months, and more underperforming players will likely be shown the door come winter.

At long last, the Lions seem to be making the right moves off the field. Making successful ones on the field is another story for another day.

Related:
- Matt Millen, One of the Worst GMs in the History of Professional Sports, Finally Fired
- The Sordid Draft History of Matt Millen, or How to Build a Laughingstock in Today’s NFL
- Tatum Bell’s Last Carry for the Detroit Lions

Jon Kitna Photo Credit: Icon SMI