This is one of those "my dad always told me" type deals where the Detroit Lions have the number two pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.  The Lions are very interested in defensive end Gaines Adams from Clemson.  So based on the latter advice the Lions need to draft anyone else.

  Actually they are likely to take Adams.  The Lions just don't want to select him number two overall.  They would much rather draft him 4th or later.  This is for two reasons. 

First the Lions don't want to pay him number two money when they don't have to.  If they trade down he is likely to be on the board as late as the number eight pick. 

The second thing this does is gets the Lions more draft picks.  The Lions already have the first two hours reserved for the begining of round five.  The Lions have four picks in the fifth round.

The Lions also need the Raiders to draft JaMarcus Russell so that Calvin Johnson is available.  Tampa Bay and Atlanta bot want CJ and the Lions will be a happy suitor to their bids.

  I know you thought you would never read that line.  All you ever hear is how bad o####M Matt Millen is.  Today I will show you that maybe he really isn't that bad after all.  Well for starters, he never had a number one overall pick bust like so many other GMs have in the past.  Cleveland had Tim Couch at number one overall and Couch isn't even in the league anymore.  They should have taken Donavon McNabb.  Remember though he was the guy Philly fans booed when he was selected number two just ahead of Cincinnati's bust, Akili Smith.  Also don't forget that same draft in 1999 the Saints traded away every pick to get Texas RB Ricky Williams.

Soooo back to defending Millen's moves.  He still has five of the last seven first round picks on the roster.  It made sense at the time and is still a running joke among Lions fans that drafting another WR in the first round is to give Joey more "weapons!"  Now as it stands Charles Rogers is trying to just get another shot, Joey is backing up Ron Mexico in Atlanta, and "BMW" Big Mike Williams may be cut or traded after June 1st.  Not to worry though.  The Lions will be near a 50% roster change.  They did finish with a whopping 18 players on IR last season.  That is almost two full first teams for offense and defense.  They have brought in a lot of lineman as well, which they needed.  Ross Verba was a bum and Damien Woody is so overweight he has step on two scales to weigh in these days, and he is down 30lbs......again.

This years draft, Millen has a lot of options.  He has used options well in the past as well.  In 2004 he traded down with Cleveland to draft Roy Williams and later in the first round selected RB Kevin Jones.

On the other hand it doesn't matter what moves Millen has or hasn't made, the Lions have been the bottom feeders of the NFL for six years now and Lions fans have had enough.  If he was doing such a great job he wouldn't have fans staging protests against him.  Maybe this is what Jets fans should have done a long time ago.  Just look at this clip from youtube.com and see just what the Jets have done in drafts past.  Jets fans you may get sick by watching this, but hey, this is a article trying to defend Matt Millen and it is pretty hard with out your help.

  This weekend we saw a lot of free agents mainly offensive lineman sign some massive deals.  San Fransisco inked former Bills corner to an eight year $80 million contract.  I know some where Chris Tucker said dangggggggggg when he heard that or he was watching Venus Williams playing tennis again.  Leonard Davis got almost $50 million from Dallas for seven years.  The Cardinals didn't want to lose him, but they knew he wasn't a $50 million lineman.  Cleveland signed Cincinnati's former gaurd Eric Steinbech to a deal similar to that of Leonard Davis.  The Bills brought in three offensive lineman Derrick Dockery, Jason Whitle, and Langston Walker.

  The Patriots were very busy signing linebacker Adelius Thomas, tight end Kyle Brady, a possible offer sheet on Miami RFA wide reciever Wes Welker.  According to the Boston Globe they may be interested in acquiring Raiders WR Randy Moss.  The story says that Patriots coach Bill Belichick loves him and has been enamored with bringing him to Foxboro.

  It appears that newly acquired RB Tatum Bell may be on the move possibly to the Giants.  The New York Post said that Dominic Rhodes was in over the weekend but did not sign.  The Giants may be using the interest in Bell as negotiations against Rhodes.  If they aren't they should. 

The Lions signed former back up defensive end Dewayne White from Tampa Bay.  White played under both head coach Rod Marinelli and defensive coordinator (and son in law) Joe Barry.  He is a speedy end who can give the Lions a little pass rush and is expected to flourish as a starter.  The Lions are also looking to sign Kevin Curtis from St. Louis, a former Martz player who is the offensive coordinator.  The Lions coaches are going to merger former back ups from both their former teams in Detroit.  Matt Millen also just traded CB Dre Bly and a 6th round pick to Denver for RB Tatum Bell, tackle George Foster and a 5th round pick.  Tatum Bell is needed due to Kevin Jones foot injury also known as a Lisfranc injury.  I had the same injury years ago and it took me over a year to come back and I was never the same after.  KJ may start the 2007 season on the PUP list and miss the first six games.  Also once the Lions sent DE James Hall to St. Louis for a 5th round pick, that gives the Lions four 5th round picks.

Now as we move into week two of free agency and the "crazy" money is spent, the draft starts to take shape a little better.  The Raiders could pull a fast one again this year.  Last year when they past on QB Matt Leinert to take DB Michael Huff  I was shocked.  I thought that drafting a California Guy to be the "Franchise" at a time when the Raiders needed a future QB they stayed with Aaron Brooks and drafted defense.  This year could be no different if the traded Moss to New England and draft WR Calvin Johnson.  What if the Raiders really broke everyone off and draft Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson.

Matt Millen has way too many options and franchise changing decisions coming up in the next few months to get this right or dead wrong.  They have the number 2 pick in the draft and have been linkt to rumors that would bring Simeon Rice to Detroit if he is cut by Tampa or traded.  He still has one year remaining on his contract with Tampa that is worth $7.25 million.

All the jokes about Millen are the same.  Is he gonna take another WR in the top ten?  Will he take another QB? Although of Millen's last seven first round picks, five of them are still on the team.  Mike Williams, Roy Williams, Kevin Jones, "Hurtin" Ernie Sims and Jeff Backus all played and are still under contract.  The Lions also finished with a whopping 18 players on IR.  So the next few months are going to be critical in the lions future.  The sad thing to me is that Matt Millen is going to be the one calling the shots.  If at least one guy they bring in, make it Marinelli's guy Simeon Rice and some how get rid of Kalimbust Edwards.  And hey Lions, how about we cut down on the number of coachs driving nude through Tim Hortons drive through as well.  What was he (Joe Cullen D-line coach) thinking anyway?  Maybe he just didn't have a place to put his bagels and he was just trying to be more efficient.

What to do with the draft pick though?  They could go with the quarterback Oakland doesn't take either Brady Quinn or Jamarcus Russell.  They could go with Joe Thomas, the tackle from Wisconsin.  Chris Mortenson even said they may take Alan Branch the DT from Michigan.  He was a very good DT for Michigan, but not at number two in the draft.  Calvin Johnson the WR from Georgia Tech is there also. To me this has trade this pick please written all over it.  We will see what happens.  It is still very far away and the coin flip for the 3rd and 4th over pick still hasn't even taken place.