Lion's Den - A Lions Franchise

[BrandonRocket]

LIONS FIRE JIM CALDWELL, HIRE UNKNOWN COACH OUT OF STONY BROOK

DETROIT, MI - After going 11-5, the Detroit Lions ended the 2015-16 season with a 7-9 record. This was unacceptable for Martha Firestone Ford, who fired both interim GM Sheldon White and the entire coaching staff.

Martha then decided she would drop some jaws when she brought in the highly-innovative Head Coach out of Stony Brook, Brandon Olsen. The 26 year old, who was young for a college coach, is the youngest coach in NFL History by a 5-year margin.

Olsen is known for his innovative offense, which is a mix of the west coast, option, and power run offense. His defense was equally impressive, with being the true definition of a hybrid defense, starting in different fronts every week seemingly. Olsen is also known for his whole coaching staff featuring members of his friend, family, and colleagues.

Eric DeCosta, most recently the assistant General Manager of the Baltimore Ravens, has been hired to replace Sheldon White as General Manager of the Detroit Lions. DeCosta was the Director of Player Personnel for the Ravens before he was assistant GM. DeCosta's biggest strength appears to be his ability to spot talent, so beware the Lions draft.

[BrandonRocket]

BRANDON OLSEN ANNOUNCES COACHING STAFF

DETROIT, MI - New Detroit Lions HC Brandon Olsen has announced his coaching staff, which is his almost whole staff from Stony Brook.

Offensive Coordinator - Justin Rochat: Rochat brings the power run game to Olsen's offense, a true believer in using the FB/H-back also.

Defensive Coordinator - Gabriel Ramirez: Ramirez loves to bring the heat at the most random times seemingly, constantly keeping the opposing offense guessing.

Special Teams Coach - Chris Olsen: The brother of the head coach, the elder Olsen is a fantastic special teams gameplanner and teacher. Having by far the best special teams unit in all of college football last year.

QB Coach - Roko Basic: Basic loves his QBs throwing deep, but at other times he seems greatly conservative, biggest question mark of a coach going forward.

RB Coach - Terry Swanson: The former running back out of the University of Toledo, who attended school with Brandon Olsen, decided to follow Olsen to Detroit. Look for this run game to be picked up big time in the Big D.

WR Coach - Isaac Merejo: The all-state receiver out of New York City never panned out in college, but he's really helped Olsen's receivers get better at battling for the ball and coming down with it; a true jump ball specialist in high school, look for Calvin Johnson to become even more lethal.

TE Coach - Davion Riley: The tight end who spurned Oregon for Toledo, retired due to concussion problems and decided to join former Rockets on the Lions coaching staff.

OL Coach - Yazeed Atariwa: The Toledo Rocket lineman left to join Olsen at Stony Brook and continues the journey as the offensive line coach in Detroit, thought to be third in command of the offense behind Olsen and Rochat.

DL Coach - Gary Cochran: The friend of Olsen in college, given on opportunity at Stony Brook, his defensive lines excel in stuffing the run.

LB Coach - Todd Paullus: Roommate of Olsen in college, his linebackers tend to excel in pass coverage.

DB Coach - Jaime Pinzon: The spunky coach has a great personality and attitude, his defensive backs tend to be very aggressive, some might say overly aggressive.

[BrandonRocket]

LIONS SIGN FIVE TO FUTURE/RESERVE CONTRACTS

DETROIT, MI - Just one day after the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, the Detroit Lions have announced the signings of G/T Gabe Carimi, QB Tim Tebow, RB Akeem Hunt, LB Jordan Zumwalt, and RB David Fluellen.

Contract Details: (Year/Salary/Bonus/Total)

G/T Gabe Carimi - (3 / $750K / $70K / $2.46M)

QB Tim Tebow - (2 / $1.05M / $16K / $2.42M)

RB Akeem Hunt - (2 / $750K / No Bonus / $1.5M)

LB Jordan Zumwalt - (2 / $750K / No Bonus / $1.5M)

RB David Fluellen - (2 / $750K / No Bonus / $1.5M)

[BrandonRocket]

DETROIT LIONS ANNOUNCE TRANSACTIONS

Contract Details: (Years/Salary/Bonus/Total)

LB Tahir Whitehead - (5 / $5.4M / $2.3M / $38.5M)

DL Jason Jones - (3 / $3.1 / $700K / $11.4M)

G Manny Ramirez - (2 / $1M / $200K / $2.4M)

DL Tyrunn Walker - (2 / $750K / $20K / $1.54M)

WR Corey Fuller - (1 / $700K / No Bonus / $700K)

C/G Gabe Ikard - (1 / $600K / No Bonus / $600K)

The following players have been allowed to walk away:

DL Haloti Ngata
DB James Ihedigbo
TE Tim Wright
DL C.J. Wilson
DB Isa Abdul-Quddus
G/T Michael Ola
LB Travis Lewis
WR Corey Washington
LB Brandon Copeland
WR Lance Moore
LB Khaseem Greene

The Detroit Lions are rumored to be attempting to trade the following players:

WR Calvin Johnson
OW Golden Tate
TE Brandon Pettigrew

[BrandonRocket]

DETROIT LIONS PRESS CONFERENCE

Reporter #1: Mr. Olsen, you come here and you immediately sign multiple players, including polarizing QB Tim Tebow. Is Tim gunning for Stafford's job?

Olsen: Tim was brought in to be a backup, he knows that. That's not to see he won't be in certain packages, but Matt just finished a year in which he threw 25 touchdowns to only 8 interceptions and a career high-tying 63% completion rate, you don't replace that.

Reporter #2: It's been rumored that the Lions are looking into moving Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, and Brandon Pettigrew. Care to comment?

Olsen: Those are not rumors. Brandon and Golden simply don't fit our system and Calvin is costing us too much money, with no wiggle room to negotiate for a pay cut.

Reporter #2: But even with those contracts and the signings you've made, the organization still has $45.4M available in cap space. Don't you think you should solidify your team before trading the team away?

Olsen: Calvin's contract spikes up nearly $6 million in the coming years, it'll be impossible to move him then, this team will be fine without any or all of those players. I'm confident in mine and Eric's (DeCosta) ability to bring any pieces that we feel are missing in to Detroit. We're trying to change the culture here, and in order to change the culture, we have to remove the old culture.

Reporter #3: Matthew Stafford isn't considered part of the old culture?

Olsen: Matt's been nicknamed "Glass Stafford" because of his early injury woes. He got sacked 50 times last season, and didn't miss a game. We're going to get him a more functional offensive line, continue the efficiency, and the new culture will see Matt as one of the best QBs in the NFL.

Reporter #4: I noticed that Golden Tate was marked as an OW in your press release, what's that stand for?

Olsen: In a complex system like ours, many players play many different positions. Some players aren't wide receivers or running backs, but are offensive weapons. I rarely use inside linebacker or outside linebacker, I'd prefer just linebacker. I rarely use cornerback or safety, because our defensive backs are very versatile.

Reporter #5: What would you say your biggest need is going into this offseason?

Olsen: I'd say our biggest need is finding more players who should excel in our system. We need more defensive backs, more defensive linemen, more offensive linemen, and explosive receivers that can understand the complexity of our system.

Reporter #6: "Explosive receivers that can understand the complexity of our system." Does that mean Calvin Johnson or Golden Tate aren't picking up the playbook?

Olsen: Calvin picked up the playbook immediately, but we simply don't throw enough to warrant his cap hit. Golden immediately picked up the playbook, and threw it out, he refused to learn the new plays and audibles, which he really shouldn't have done, considering he just finished his worst season as a pro, he needs to move to a simpler system; one that is more west coast or deep ball oriented. Thank you all for coming, and I shall see you soon.

[BrandonRocket]

CALVIN JOHNSON DEALT TO CLEVELAND

Detroit, MI - Longtime Lion Calvin Johnson Jr. aka Megatron has been dealt away to the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland allowed receiver Josh Gordon to walk away and test free agent waters after serving his 1-year suspension. Calvin Johnson will do more than enough to replace the production that Josh Gordon could have given Cleveland. Cleveland can now focus on the quarterback situation of if they're going to stick with Johnny Football or draft a QB in the second round, given that they traded their first round pick for Calvin Johnson.

Detroit also gave up a fifth round pick alongside Megatron. Detroit didn't clear up much more cap space for this season, but in the next two years, it will clear up a ton of cap. Cleveland owned the second overall pick the the upcoming draft, but now the Lions have a chance to draft almost anyone they want at #2.

[BrandonRocket]

GOLDEN TATE SHIPPED TO KANSAS CITY

DETROIT, MI - Golden Tate was an explosive receiver in Seattle. He continued that in Detroit. Unfortunately for him, it won't continue in Detroit anymore, coming off his worst season, he's been sent to Kansas City, where Head Coach Andy Reid will pair him with Jeremy Maclin on the outside, alongside with Travis Kelce on the inside and Jamaal Charles in the backfield. Kansas City just recently won Super Bowl 50 so this trade may have made the reigning champions even more lethal.

In return for Golden Tate, the Detroit Lions received D'Anthony Thomas and a 2017 fifth round pick. As questionable as this move may be, Lions coach Brandon Olsen said, "D'Anthony is exactly the kind of offensive weapon that we need to help our offense advance to the next level. We fully expect him to be one of the cogs in the machine that is the Detroit Lions."

[shipfb21]

wow to get rid of megatron, coach olsen better know what hes doing or i can see his head on the chopping block real fast. along with the trade of tate, i can't imagine stafford is happy.