Defensively, the Detroit Lions need some major fixes in 2022, and the team is likely to hit the ground running on some of those when the new league year begins next week. They might not waste any time pursuing one of the biggest names on the market, either.
After he got released by the Seattle Seahawks, Bobby Wagner instantly became one of the top names on the free agency market for teams to pursue. The market for Wagner is going to be huge and competitive, and the Lions are reportedly a team that will be involved within it.
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Analyst Jordan Schultz revealed that the Lions were one of the many teams involved in the market for Wagner. That market could have as many as 12 teams vying for his services.
“Other teams I’m told have interest in Bobby Wagner inc the Jets, Lions and Patriots. So yeah, the All-Decade LB will have his pick of the litter, so to speak!,” Schultz tweeted.
Obviously, Wagner is going to have a big choice to make, so it will be interesting to see what role the Lions play here. They would likely have to spend a lot of money to woo Wagner to the mix, and he might not be looking for a team that is trying to rebuild at this stage of his career.
In spite of that, he could be a player firmly in the mix for Detroit when the new year begins.
Lions Have Major Offseason Need at Linebacker
If there’s one spot where the Lions can look to improve dramatically this year, it is defense. Specifically, linebacker has been a soft spot for the last few years in Detroit, and the Lions tried to rectify that with the selection of Derrick Barnes in 2021. Barnes played fine as a rookie as he learned the ropes, but the fact is, the youngster needs plenty of help to develop as planned in both the draft and free agency.
With a few names such as Alex Anzalone expected to be out the door in free agency, could the Lions be players in the linebacker market? It’s more than possible given the fact that some good fits for what they like to do on defense do seem to exist.
If Wagner is a choice, the Lions are likely aiming high to try and fix the defense and rectify a big need. Clearly, a player of his capacity could make all the defense for the team and their improvement.
Wagner’s Stats & Highlights
It isn’t overstating it to say that Wagner is one of the best linebackers the game of football has seen in the past decade. It isn’t just the stats but his overall impact on the game which shows what a dramatic addition he would be for a team like Detroit that struggles on defense at the position. Where to start on Wagner? Maybe with the fact that he has 1,383 tackles, 23.5 sacks and 11 interceptions. All of that has led to Wagner being a six-time first-team All-Pro and an eight-time Pro Bowl player. Wagner also has a Super Bowl ring to his credit, and was part of the all-decade team at linebacker.
Here’s some career highlights:
It’s clear a player like Wagner can help the Lions, but only if the price is right and he agrees to buy into the vision of the team. It might be hard to see a deal getting done, but at this time of year, nobody knows how things are going to go. This is a case worth staying tuned to into next week.
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Lions Interested in Recently Released Star All-Pro Linebacker: Report