Kansas City Chiefs: Would Eric Bieniemy be a fit for the Detroit Lions?

The Detroit Lions are one of three teams to have fired their head coach during the 2020 NFL regular season, joining the Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons*. And while the Lions were the latest, they certainly won’t be the last.

*All three of those teams have also fired their general manager. The Jacksonville Jaguars have also canned their GM.

A quick word on the Lions’ history: it stinks. The organization has won only one playoff game since 1957. In that time, Detroit’s only been the playoffs 12 times. The team’s winningest coach has a losing record!

So, yeah: whoever takes over this team is inheriting a poorly run franchise.

And there’s currently limited available resources to improve the roster. According to Spotrac, the Lions are projected to be under the cap in 2021 by a mere $1.2 million (which ranks 22nd in the league) and that’s with a slew of players, including receiver Kenny Golladay, kicker Matt Prater, and linebacker Jarrad Davis, hitting free agency.

Of course, if those guys sign elsewhere, the team will get a number of compensation picks.

As with every team with the head coaching vacancy light on, the greatest question is about the team’s quarterback situation. The Lions have Matthew Stafford, a former No. 1 pick in his 12th season, inked for another two seasons, but they could, theoretically, walk away from him after this season if the team wants to swallow a nearly $25 million cap hit. Still, the Lions would save around $10 million. Watch out for the fifth day of the new league year as that’s when Stafford is owed–you guessed it–a $10 million roster bonus.

But say you cut (or trade) Stafford–then what? There are several decent quarterback prospects who will be available in the upcoming draft, yet they may all be gone when it’s time for the Lions to pick.

Could Detroit swing a deal to jump into the top five? Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence will be off the board at No. 1 with BYU’s Zach Wilson and Ohio State’s Justin Fields right behind him, so even if the team makes that big of a jump, it would, at best, land North Dakota State’s Trey Lance.

Not ideal.

Then there’s Detroit’s division, the NFC North. Right now, the Bears continue to Bear as they themselves continue to search for a decent quarterback to finally make fans stop longing for the return of Rex Grossman*. The Vikings are middling, but still a solid team. And, of course, the Green Bay Packers look dominant with Aaron Rodgers playing tremendously while showing no signs of slowing down.

*lol

Which is to say, it’s not an easy division in which to win–at least right now.

What the Lions may need to do is take a step back, start a true rebuild, grab that quarterback of the future, hit on some of the compensatory picks, suffer through even more misery, and then jump into contention.