Mike O’Hara of DetroitLions.com writes that there could be some big changes to both the Lions offensive and defensive lines in the coming days.
O’Hara specifically mentions that DE Kyle Vanden Bosch, C Dominic Raiola and G Stephen Peterman could all be cap-casualties as the Detroit looks to get younger and cheaper upfront.
Vanden Bosch, 34, is entering the final year of his current deal and counts $10.7 million against the Lions salary cap. His recent performance dropped off dramatically this season. Last year, he totaled 8 sacks while playing 777 snaps, but in 2012 he only tallied 3.5 sacks and was rated as the worst 4-3 defensive end in the league by Pro Football Focus.
Vanden Bosch is clearly on the downswing of his career and with Cliff Avril set to hit the open market, there stands a very reasonable chance that they could target a defensive end early on in this year’s draft.
As for Raiola and Peterman, both players are also entering the final year of their current contracts. Combined, they count $9.2 million against the Lions salary cap.
Raiola, 34, actually put together a pretty solid season for Detroit and has been with the team for 10 seasons, so it wouldn’t be easy to replace his leadership upfront.
Peterman, 31, is towards the middle of the pack in terms of production, according to PFF. Releasing him is obviously a financial decision, but it would allow them to allocate that money towards other areas of need such as help for their secondary. This would also allow them to bring in some young talent that could off in the long run.
We have the Lions taking Florida State DE Bjoern Werner in the first-round and Oregon State CB Jordan Poyer in the second-round of our 2013 NFL Mock Draft.
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