Thus far, the Detroit Lions season has been nothing but a disappointment, the offense is out of sync, the defense has more holes than a strainer, and worst yet, they are 0-4! The Lions seem to finally notice that things need to change(remember though, it is the Lions, and an 0-4 start isn't the worst possible situation), and they finally realized that Matt Millen is the worst G.M. in the history of the NFL. So after this season from hell, where should the Lions go? The answer is seperate ways. That is right, the Lions need to get rid of everybody that has been infected with Millenitis(its a real disease, highly lethal and contagious), and rebuild. The Lions need to get rid of the guys that are the most infected, being the coaches, then they must get rid of the guys that were known as "leaders", such as Paris Lenon, and Jon Kitna. Then they must get rid of the guys such as Jeff Backus and Shaun Cody, the kind of guys who don't do a damn thing to help a team, but suck up salary like a 30 year-old woman married to a 90 year-old man, they don't care when the man(or in their case team) dies, they just care about the money. So you ask, "Well, who exactly do they keep?" That is a good question, see, many people would say that they should keep the guys like Cory Redding, and Dominic Raiola since they have stuck through it during these tough times, but the reason they stick through it is because they are getting wads of money thrown at them like they are strippers, dancing on a pole in front of Pacman Jones! They don't come out to win, they come out to make money! This is why you keep the key guys, the guys who have shown that they are capable of playing, the guys that have shown they want to play, and the guys that have shown that they want to win. See, Marinelli came in with the most overused phrase in all of sports, "Hustle beats talent when talent doesn't hustle". Well Rod, I'm glad to see that you like players that hustle, but with all due respect, it is YOUR job to get talent to hustle, you are the coach, you need to do it. The guys that have the ability and hustle, the guys that will do whatever it takes to win, are the guys that will stay. The team must also keep all young players with even the slightest potential in order to build the foundation for the rebuilding project. The players who should stay are the following:

Calvin Johnson
Drew Stanton
Gosder Cherilus
Ikaika Alama-Francis
Ernie Sims
DeWayne White
Manuel Ramirez
Cliff Avril
Landon Cohen
Andre Fluellen
Jerome Felton
Don Muhlbach
Kevin Smith
Leigh Bodden

Since the Lions obviously cannot have a roster of only 13 players, this means that the rest of the team must be brought in through the draft, free-agency, and trades. In order to help rebuild this organization, the Lions should have a total of at least 15 draft picks and a maximum and highly unlikely number of 20. At least 7 of the picks should be in the first three rounds as those rounds are where the most impact comes from and the most NFL-ready players are drafted. The picks will obviously be acquired from trades of curret players. Players with trade value are the following:

Gerald Alexander
Jeff Backus
Jon Kitna
Roy Williams
Daniel Bullocks
Shaun Cody
Jared DeVries
Jordon Dizon
Travis Fisher
Mike Furrey
Shaun McDonald
Paris Lenon
Alex Lewis
Kalvin Pearson
Stephen Peterman
Dominic Raiola
Cory Redding
Dwight Smith
Keith Smith

The rebuilding phase will obviously be challenging, but it can be done. Many teams have had to overcome great issues within the organization and two great examples are teams that have done it this year, The Miami Dolphins and The Atlanta Falcons. Now this will all depend on who the Lions bring in to run this organization, whether its the hiring, or the on-the-field calls, it cannot be done without proper leadership. But for now, I just thought I would give you something to think about...

lions need a dominate ball carrier. they haven't had one since barry really. kitna has a gunslinger mentality which i like in qbs but he throws too many picks with not enought tds or more important wins. if you guys would have taken AP it would be a different story, not to knock CJ who is coming along fine.

Glad you guys have the problems in Detroit all figured out. But let me just interject right quick.

The Lions' need for a "dominate ball carrier" sounds like something that Matt Millen would say. There is no player in the NFL, let me say that again, there IS NOT A SINGLE PLAYER IN THE NFL that can make the Detroit Lions a better football team.

As a matter of fact, it's that sort of thinking that has condemned the Lions for years since Barry. It isn't a single player problem. It is a team problem. It's a management problem. It's an ownership problem. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm hoping for blackouts the rest of the season, so that maybe William Clay Ford Sr. will finally sell the team and move them out to Los Angelas or somewhere else.

In order to truly repair this team, it would take literally YEARS. This isn't the Lions year. Nor is next year. Or the year after that. This team is 10-15 years away from being even close to the right track. All their coaches need to go. Marinell, Coletto, Barry, all of them. On top of that, Tom Lewand, and WCFSR all need to go. A complete re-tooling from the top down.

Every single player needs to be replaced. The only decent players worth keeping on roster at this point is Ernie Sims and Calvin Johnson. None others are worth the salary they're earning. This team needs to learn the importants of building through the draft.

By the way...Ikaika Alama-Francis? He might be one of the worst draft day decisions of the Millen era. He'll be unemployed this time next year, and he'll likely never play in the NFL again.

Asteinbach, I completely agree with you that it is a team problem and not just a single player problem, which is why I believe that they will be chopping this team up like it is lettuce. I do not believe though that it will take 10-15 years to repair them as I have seen teams in worse shape, for example the Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons, two teams that are now decent and one of which is tied for first in their division, and it only took those teams a maximum of 2 years and really it only took the Dolphins a change of coaching staff and front office to start winning games.

Ikaika is NOT one of the worst Millen picks as they knew and everybody else knew he was a little bit raw. The Lions should keep him as he could be used the way Justin Tuck was used last year on the Giants. They could line him up inside as a 1 or a 3 on third down to get a better pass rush and if he improves enough, he may be able to be an impact guy on the outside.

And Tom Brady being injured, of course.

This team could've sucked the competitive spirit out of Vince Lombardi. No joke. Marinelli will be fired and hopefully Roy will be traded within the next 9 days. But if these idiots don't lower their asking price, they're in trouble. Either Roy will walk next year, or will get Franchised. Neither option is too appealing for the Lions.

Until this team gets under new ownership, it's not going to happen. It's a top-down problem that can't get resolved until that Old Fart kicks the proverbial bucket.

I was half aleep watching NFL network the other day, and I might've missheard but I think it said that Demarcus Ware was offered by Jery Jones for ROy and MILLEN DECLINED!? Does anybody know more about this?

Yeah, I read that on PFT the other day too. Honestly, I think this years Lions have a great chance to be even worse than the 07 Dolphins. There's not a single QB worth his salt on the roster and the defense just gets beaten up on week after week.

Actually, you heard that backwards. Millen was requiring no less than 2 first round draft picks, or DeMarcus Ware in exchange for Roy Williams. The Roy deal never got done because Jerry thought the asking price was too expensive (which it was). The Lions will probably have to deal him for a 2nd and 4th now, because his trade value is declining heavily. Everyone knows the Lions need to get rid of him now. So...

Adam,

What to do to rebuild the Lions? Well, look at what Parcells did in Miami for your model. You start with both lines. You need to control those to control games. So, you figure out who you want there, and discard the rest by replacing them with draft picks, FAs, etc. Next, you need a QB now, and one for the future. Parcells brought in Pennington, not a great, but a very good QB who's extremely accurate, and usually makes very good decisions. His QB of the future is Henne, and he does look to have a nice upside. You stated you'd keep Stanton. Why? He has yet to show anything. I think he needs to start playing now, in order for you to determine if he indeed does have the potential to be "the guy," or not. Then, you start looking for your RBs, LBs, DBs, etc. But, there's little doubt you need to start with both lines, and the QB.

You're preaching to the choir here, Nyyjones. Don't tell me, tell them! That's what we've been doing for years now. Believe me, despite the fact that I haven't been a fan of a winning football team in...well, ever. I'm still pretty up to snuff on my football know-how. What I'm hoping and praying for, is that we'll be playing Martyball by this time next year. Seems to be what turned your favorite team around.

Nyyjones,

You and I have the same idea, you win games in the trenches, you lose games in the trenches. The biggest difference in the Lions D this year from last year is that there is no size. Shaun Rogers may have been obese and lazy, but he was big and he did take up blockers. As of now, the Lions don't have a guy that can plug up holes on the interior d-line, which is why their run D is last in the league. On the other side of the ball, the Lions "zone-blocking scheme is not working well at all. The group of o-linemen that they have, are not fit for the scheme as they are not agile enough, or quick enough. It is clear that the Lions are losing where you need to win; in the trenches.
As for the Stanton thing, me and you completely disagree. I have seen Stanton play in the pre-season, and his years at Michigan State. The guy can flat-out play. He can throw the ball deep into double-coverage and still land it right in the receivers hands. He can scramble when the pocket breaks down and can run or throw from there. The best thing about him, is that he will NOT lose. Stanton has the heart of Brett Favre, I know you may think, "How can you compare a 2nd year player to possibly the best QB ever?" Stanton plays through injury, and when his team is losing, he will never give up and will keep on pushing, even if he is the only one that will. He is smart as well, which gives him the well-rounded capability. Stanton is the guy of the future.

Yeah, not so sure about Stanton.