Detroit Lions NFL 2015 Trade News, Rumors: Martin Mayhew Draft Follies Have Cost the Lions Talent
It has not been a pretty off season for the Detroit Lions. They lost their best defensive player to a record breaking contract offered by the Miami Dolphins. They lost significant pieces of their defense in other free agent signings and their mismanagement of the salary cap he's left them without a lot of cap space to fix the glaring needs in their roster. They also traded away the middle part of their 2015 draft to replace Ndamukong Suh.
To be frank the Detroit Lions are in this position because of their inability to draft well. General Manager Martin Mayhew took over the team during the 2008 season once the front office had finally grown tired of Matt Millen's inability to build a winner in the Motor City.
When Nick Fairley signed with the St. Louis Rams that wiped out what was left of his 2011 draft class. When Suh signed with Miami that wiped out the last of his 2010 draft class. IN fact in his first three drafts only QB Matthew Stafford, TE Brandon Pettigrew, and LB DeAndre Levy. That is 20 picks over three drafts that yielded just three starters. That is not how a team rebuilds itself. Those picks should have been the nucleus of a new Lions roster moving forward.
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Mayhew compounded those mistakes by twice draft tight ends in the first round. First in 2009 he traded WR Roy Williams to Dallas for a substantial return. He then used the first round pick acquired in that trade on Pettigrew who has become less and less important to the offense. Then in last year's draft with the very real possibility of losing both his starting DT's this offseason eh spent the 10th overall pick on TE Eric Ebron, while signing Pettigrew to a 4-year $16 million dollar contract extension. Most NFL team do not have one TE drafted in the first round, but the Lions have two. That underscores how poorly the Lions have used their draft picks over the years, and while they have failed to build a consistent winner.
