{"id":813610,"date":"2026-03-15T11:05:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T11:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/813610\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T11:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T11:05:28","slug":"what-has-been-the-detroit-lions-worst-free-agency-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/813610\/","title":{"rendered":"What has been the Detroit Lions\u2019 worst free agency move?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, we discussed our favorite Detroit Lions moves of free agency\u2019s opening week<\/a>. Now, let\u2019s turn the tables.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a secret that many Lions fans have not been pleased with the way things have gone. Detroit has been relatively inactive, and with more roster vacancies than most teams right now (Detroit is 31st in player signed right now<\/a>), it\u2019s been hard to stay patient for a team that took a step back last year. That\u2019s especially true when Detroit\u2019s edge defender room has been woefully unaddressed\u2014a position that fans have been desperately wanting to be upgraded for years now.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s throw \u201chaven\u2019t added an edge\u201d out from this question, because we all get it. We all know that room still needs several additions, and it will almost certainly happen in this upcoming week.<\/p>\n

Instead, let\u2019s focus on the moves the Lions did make. While Detroit\u2019s scouting department has undoubtedly done a lot more work than we have as outside individuals, that doesn\u2019t mean we have to like every move they make.<\/p>\n

So today\u2019s Question of the Day is:<\/p>\n

What has been your least favorite Lions free agency move so far?<\/p>\n

My answer: The one-year, $5 million given to Larry Borom.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, Detroit has needed to invest in that OT3 spot for a while now. And while we all loved Dan Skipper for the passion and energy he put out there, he was a spot the team could have afforded to upgrade for several seasons now. He did come a lot cheaper, but the Lions also got what they paid for.<\/p>\n

As pointed out by Erik Schlitt this weekend, Borom\u2019s contract\u2014while certainly a bigger investment than Detroit typically makes in this position and a significant raise from Borom\u2019s last contract (one year, $2.5M)\u2014is actually right in line with the market for swing tackles in the league<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The problem is I\u2019m not sure his talent warrants such designation. Admittedly, I may be a little clouded from watching Aidan Hutchinson torture Borom in joint practices last year. He was pretty awful those two days, and that has left a pretty strong impression with me.<\/p>\n

But the PFF grades from his 11 starts last year don\u2019t look too poor\u2014particularly as a pass blocker, where he graded above 70 in seven of his final nine games. In fact, from Week 5 on, Borom\u2019s 82.1 pass blocking grade ranked him FIFTH among all offensive tackles with at least 200 snaps\u2014that\u2019s a few spots higher than Penei Sewell\u2019s 79.6 grade.<\/p>\n

Okay, right, I was supposed to talk about why I didn\u2019t like this move. Well, for one, that stretch last year appears to be a bit of an anomaly. He didn\u2019t post a single-game pass blocking grade above 70 in 2024, and he posted a 45.2 pass blocking grade in 2023, including an eight-pressure game against the Commanders. The closest stretch to last year was in 2022, where he finished with a 69.9 pass blocking grade, including four starts with a grade over 70.<\/p>\n

And as a run blocker, he\u2019s never graded out well. While run blocking isn\u2019t quite as important for a tackle as it is an interior offensive linemen, Detroit has historically relied on their tackles to be more involved than most offenses.<\/p>\n

If this all sounds like a relatively weak argument for my least favorite move, you\u2019re right. In a vacuum, I don\u2019t really hate any individual moves. But in an offseason in which this front office has been very tight with their money, it\u2019s a little strange to see them increase their spending on an offensive tackle they likely hope never sees the field behind, presumably, a highly-drafted rookie tackle. It certainly seems like going with another bargain at tackle (like Stone Forsythe\u2019s one-year, $2 million deal or the many remaining free agent tackles who could get less) while spending more on defense to offset all of the losses would have been a better use of resources.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s admittedly nitpicky, but that\u2019s all we can do this time of year.<\/p>\n

Were there any free agent signings from the Lions that you didn\u2019t particularly like? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Saturday, we discussed our favorite Detroit Lions moves of free agency\u2019s opening week. Now, let\u2019s turn the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,52105,84539,11309,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-813610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroit-lions-conversation-starters-and-community-questions","11":"tag-detroit-lions-discussion","12":"tag-detroit-lions-free-agency","13":"tag-detroitlions","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-lions","16":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116232869198886386","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}