No one will ever forget, even though some may want to, the Lions catastrophic 2008 season in which they became the worst team in NFL history, as they finished 0-16. Finally, the team showed a commitment to improving. Coaches were fired, players traded and let go, as everything was blown up in order to start all over again.
The new rebuilding project began in the 2009 NFL Draft when the Lions drafted Matthew Stafford first overall. The team got the quarterback they wanted to lead them into the future, and in this year's draft they started to build their defence with the drafting of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh second overall. The Lions also acquired defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch in free agency.
So now that the Lions have started taking the right steps in building for the future, the question is, is the future now? Lions Safety Louis Delmas believes so. The second year safety has predicted an eight win season and a playoff spot for the Lions: "We know what we can do," Delmas said. "We just slipped up last year. I know that we lost a lot of games on last drives last year. It's no surprise if we come out and get eight wins -- I won't be surprised at all. We know we can do it."
However, the Lions jerseys didn't really slip up last year. This has been the story of the franchise as it has not won a Super Bowl ever. It is a good sign though that players are optimistic, after all, what kind of a professional goes into a season without expecting to win?
"It's a hard division," he said. "It's very big, but football is football. You've got to strap it up and go out there and play and that's what we plan on doing," said Delmas.
The team filled some major holes this offseason, especially on defence. With Suh and Vanden Bosch on the line, the new Detroit Lions jerseys actually may have a legitimate pass rush. They also drafted Amari Spievey at cornerback who can make an impact on defence.
Sims, a first-round pick in 2006, was dealt to the Philadephia Eagles in a three-team trade that brought Denver Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler to Detroit. Bullocks, who was fighting to come back from knee problems, was cut.
Bullocks, a second-round pick in 2006, looked to be shaping into a solid player during his rookie season. But he suffered a knee injury in the following year during a preseason game and never fully recovered.
Last month, Bullocks said he was close to 100 percent but wasn't quite there yet. During offseason workouts, he wasn't getting a lot of reps in the defense, and that's usually an indication that a player doesn't figure prominently into a team's plans.
Among the 38 players gone from that five-year stretch are six first-round choices: quarterback Joey Harrington, receivers Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams, running back Kevin Jones and Sims.
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