I’m a die hard Detroit Lions fan.  In fact, I’ve been accused of drinking more Kool-Aid than most. Every year, I sip a little and believe that my team will be different this year.

That’s how I felt coming into this season. Year one of Dan Cambpell was under his belt. Brad Holmes has come in and fixed the cap hell the Detroit Lions were in. Hard Knocks was in town, showing the unity of this year’s team. All things were trending up!

Then the regular season hit.  The Lions took an L in week one from one of the best teams in the league, the Eagles. Detroit bounced back the next week vs Washington and held onto a win.  Moving the team to 1-1, and it seemed as if Detroit was primed for at least a competitive season.

1-1 turned to 1-6 in a hurry.  Bad play calling, mismanaged timeouts, untimely fumbles, missed assignments, lack of a kicker, all those things added up.  (Notice I didn’t write injuries. That’s a part of the game, and I refuse to use that as an excuse). The Detroit Lions are not talented enough to overcome one of those things, let alone ALL of them.

But, here Detroit sits at 1-6.  The Trade deadline was yesterday.  Detroit moved a pretty big piece of their offense.  TJ Hockenson was traded, in division, to the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions got back some picks and got out of having to pay him Top 5 TE money.  Time will tell if it was the right move.

The trade also meant one thing.  The Detroit Lions have tapped out on this season, and perhaps next!

I’m not the only one thinking this way. Former Detroit Lions Running Back Kerryon Johnson took to Twitter to share his thoughts of the move:

This got me thinking. Would I be ok if the Detroit Lions really just shut it down for 3 years and tried to build the whole thing up again?

The answer is yes.  I’ve been a Lions fan so long, what’s 2 more years of mediocrity?

By all accounts 2024 is the year the Detroit Lions, Dan Campbell, Shelia Hamp and Brad Holmes will all have the pieces they need to make a winner.

In 2024 the Lions should have about $95 Million in cap space, multiple first round picks under rookie contacts and hopefully a better idea of what Dan Cambpell can be as head coach.

That is the light at the end of the tunnel.  A very long, dark, ugly tunnel. So whether you like it or not, this year the Lions have tapped out.  2023 doesn’t look to be any better.  This is a long play for Detroit. I’m willing to give it the time it needs.

Detroit has never tried to do it this way. Its always been patch work “rebuild”.  This is a shut down of all production until you get the product right.  I just hope it pays off and in 2025 I’m not writing a similar article about how they quit again.

Photo: (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)