Teams with one win on the season are beginning to take a hard look at their current roster. The Detroit Lions are one of them at 1-6 and trending downward. NFL analysts are predicting that the Lions could end up being sellers at the trade deadline with most of their money wrapped up into two players, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson. However, general manager Martin Mayhew is making it clear that is not happening.
The Lions are already making adjustments for the future as they got rid of their coordinators and certain position coaches. Will trades be the next thing? Of course a deal regarding Johnson would get the Lions solid draft picks to use in rebuilding while Stafford still holds value in the league as well. When asked if the Lions were considering parting ways with the quarterback either mid-year or in the offseason, Mayhew called the idea "comical."
"I mean this guy is a phenomenal talent," Mayhew said, via the Detroit Free Press. "You can go look at his production over the course of his career in some tough situations, having missed most of the first two seasons of his career. And his numbers are up there with the top guys who have ever played the game."
Stafford is currently signed through the 2017 season with no one really backing him up. The Lions are better with Stafford than without him and Mayhew is right to take some of the blame off the quarterback. The Lions have simply not put it all together this year and Mayhew would rather add talent than subtract someone like Stafford.
"Obviously, we need to win more football games. That's where the primary focus is," Mayhew said, via the Detroit Free Press. "But when you have a franchise quarterback like Matthew Stafford, you keep that guy. If we had 22 Matthew Staffords, we'd win a championship every single year. And same thing with Calvin Johnson. Both of those guys are very important to what we're doing as a franchise, great people off the field, great teammates."
Both Stafford and Johnson have been trending downward this season, but they have not been helped much by the rest of the supporting cast. According to Golden Tate, he is hopeful that the coaching changes mid-season bring more passes thrown his way. He along with Eric Ebron will need to step up against the Kansas City Chiefs if the Lions are going to get that second win.
"Hopefully, this is the start of some change," Tate said, via DetroitNews.com. "That would be nice to get some more targets and get better opportunities and just make use of the targets that I do get."
The real heat right now is on Ameer Abdullah who is not having the most consistent rookie season. The rookie will get his chance to shine against the inconsistent Kansas City defense. He will split carries with Joique Bell who continues to get healthy on the season. If the Lions can get the run game working better, the Stafford-Johnson connection will follow.