Kyle Vanden Bosch

I could go on and on about how this is the biggest off-season pickup the Lions have made in literally a decade. How desperately we needed a pass rusher, and how we landed a top 10 defensive end in the NFL. How Vanden Bosch and the DT we take #2 overall will take our defensive line from worst in the league to at least average. (I hope it's Suh, because KVB, like Suh, went to Nebraska.) I could ramble about how freaking HUGE this is, because we've been relying on the bumbling Jared DeVries and Dewayne White for WAY too long and finally have a dominant, double-team drawing, mismatch-creating physical freak of nature on the defensive end, a guy who has 37 sacks in the last 5 seasons, twice as many as Jared DeVries racked up in 10 seasons. But instead, I'd like to say a few things about Kyle Vanden Bosch that you might not know, but will certainly impress you.

-He graduated from Nebraska with a 3.82 GPA and a Bachelors in Finance. (So he's not a dummy)
-He went to three Pro Bowls with the Titans.
-While at Nebraska he was nicknamed The Tazmanian Devil.
-He wears red contacts during games to appear more intimidating.
-He has participated in charity wrestling events. As in the fake, stupid, chair-smashing kind of wrestling.
-He's getting 4 years and $26 million from Detroit, which is a really great deal.
-He was captain of the Titans defense and brings sorely needed leadership to the Lions D.

It's been a really busy free agency for the rest of the NFL so far, and I'll wrap that up in a second. First, a couple more notes about the Lions' other moves.

We traded with Cleveland to acquire DT Corey Williams (21 sacks and 200 tackles in his 6 year career) and traded with Atlanta to nab CB Chris Houston (3-year vet and nothing special). Both guys may actually end up with starting jobs. Williams fills the void left by Grady Jackson, who was released, and Houston is really the only option at CB right now. Buchanon, Henry and James are all gone. Eric King is the only CB remaining who started even one game last season. Who else do we have? Ramzee Robinson? Kevin Hobbs? We NEED to draft a cornerback in April. Second round or maybe third, but no later.

Offensively, the only move was a re-signing of Jon Jansen, but I doubt he'll start over Gosder barring injury. He might be moved to LG, but probably not. Unless we draft a startable lineman, or find someone else in free agency, it looks like we're stuck with: Backus-Rameriz-Raiola-Loper-Cherilus. Not great ...

But remember, Brandon Pettigrew is huge and should serve as a 6th lineman on running plays.

Okay, on to the rest of the NFL action ...

-Biggest winners: The Ravens. Their receiving crew went from possibly the worst in the league to pretty respectable. 50 year old Derrick Mason no longer has to be the #1 guy now that Anquan Boldin is there. This helps Flacco a ton. Ray Rice is there too. Watch out AFC North.

-Biggest losers: The Cardinals, no question about it. Warner retired, Boldin left, Dansby and Rolle left too. By my count, that's 4 of their 6 best players. The NFC West is completely up for grabs, and might be won by a 6-10 team.

-Best signing: Julius Peppers to the Bears. Sure, he got paid $91 million dollars, but he might actually be worth it. The Bears D was crap last year and now has an elite pass rusher, which we know cures all ails. Unfortunately, Urlacher will get all the credit for Peppers' sacks.

-Most overrated signing: Chester Taylor to the Bears. He's a backup RB on a Mike Martz offense. So, he'll touch the ball ... what, 30 times all season? On a related note, when you combine Martz and Cutler, aren't you guaranteeing at least 30 INTs in 2010?

-Most underrated signing: Aaron Kampman to the Jags. Great player to an already underrated team. I'm already looking ahead to the AFC Wildcard picture and saying 'The poor Texans just missed it... again.'

-Other important signings: Dansby to the Dolphins. Very good linebacker to replace big-mouth Joey Porter.

-Dunta Robinson to the Falcons, Antrel Rolle to the Giants.

Two NFC playoff-hopefuls get shutdown cornerbacks. Cards and Texans both take a step backwards.

-Gary Brackett re-signed by the Colts. Seymour franchised by the Raiders. Wilfork franchised by New England.

-Scott Fujita - left the Super Bowl Champion Saints to go to the lowly Browns. Why the heck would you do that?!?

That's all I got. Peace out.