{"id":18526,"date":"2025-03-24T14:56:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T14:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526"},"modified":"2025-03-24T14:56:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T14:56:26","slug":"breaking-news-lions-and-dan-campbell-called-out-for-foolish-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS: Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for &#8216;Foolish&#8217; Move"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2191097645-1-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2191097645-1-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2191097645-1-1.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2191097645-1-1.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for 'Foolish' Move\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><em>Getty The Detroit Lions let a star player go during the offseason, and they&#8217;re getting some pushback for the move.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Dan Campbell, Brad Holmes and the powers at be at the Detroit Lions have been working hard during the offseason to reshape the team for a 2025 run. This isn\u2019t an easy task, since the team lost a handful of significant coaches, as well as players, following the Lions\u2019 loss to the Washington Commanders in the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Not everyone can stay for another year. Campbell and company have been forced to make some difficult decisions going into 2025, and one of those might come back to bite them.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Detroit Lions Criticized for Letting Star Player Go<\/h2>\n<p>The Detroit Lions parted ways with Za\u2019Darius Smith during the offseason, and with good reason. With the way his contract was structured, it would have been costly to bring him back for another year, so the Lions released the veteran edge rusher right as the free agency season started. Doing so, the Detroit Lions were able to clear $5.7 million in cap space, which, of course, will come in handy.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_1990,h_1119,x_90,y_6\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/all_lions\/01jev56fc675jykpx9mz.jpg\" alt=\"Detroit Lions Jared Goff says it is 'bizarre' Dan Campbell is being  criticized\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Even if the Lions had no choice other than to release Smith, NFL analyst and expert Brad Berreman of SideLion Report begs the question, what are they doing to fill their edge rusher need?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRe-signing Marcus Davenport is the headliner move to this point, which says it all amid some other lower-level re-signings,\u201d Berreman stated in a March 24 piece, titled \u201cFoolishness of Lions letting Za\u2019Darius Smith go is being proven more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere seems to be a total deference to a deep draft class at edge rusher to more notably fill the need,\u201d\u00a0Berreman adds. \u201cIf it was a one or the other choice between Smith and Davenport, there\u2019s a solid argument the Lions made the wrong choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Could the Lions Bring Za\u2019Darius Smith Back?<\/h2>\n<p>Smith is still available as free agency goes on, so it\u2019s possible the Lions could bring him back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would tilt toward unlikely if the reason for his release was rooted in being asked to take a pay cut, But if he\u2019s not finding what he expected on the open market, the door to come back is theoretically open,\u201d Berreman notes.<\/p>\n<p>In a March 22 feature about a handful of former Detroit Lions players who haven\u2019t found new homes yet, Cem Yolbulan of Detroit Jock City notes, \u201cDespite being a three-time Pro Bowler and a productive defensive end throughout his career, Smith has found it hard to stick with a team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yolbulan adds, \u201cSince 2021, he has played for four different teams, including the Packers, Vikings and the Lions. If he were to sign elsewhere, it would be his sixth team in his 11th season in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the end, Lions followers are waiting to see if the team has plans to beef up their defensive line and add a solid edge rusher or if they just don\u2019t know what to do at the moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Lions have sat on their hands to add a proven edge rusher who can stay on the field, after having one in their midst they didn\u2019t necessarily have to let go,\u201d Berreman states. \u201cMaybe time proves them correct or there\u2019s a plan that has yet to be revealed, but letting Smith go is looking more and more foolish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Detroit Lions let a star player go during the offseason, and they&#8217;re getting some pushback for the move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING NEWS: Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for &#039;Foolish&#039; Move - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING NEWS: Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for &#039;Foolish&#039; Move - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Detroit Lions let a star player go during the offseason, and they&#039;re getting some pushback for the move.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-24T14:56:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/try5trf.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526\",\"name\":\"BREAKING NEWS: Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for 'Foolish' Move - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/try5trf.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-24T14:56:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-24T14:56:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/try5trf.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/try5trf.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING NEWS: Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for &#8216;Foolish&#8217; Move\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING NEWS: Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for 'Foolish' Move - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING NEWS: Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for 'Foolish' Move - Breaking News","og_description":"The Detroit Lions let a star player go during the offseason, and they're getting some pushback for the move.","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2025-03-24T14:56:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/try5trf.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrKen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrKen","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526","name":"BREAKING NEWS: Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for 'Foolish' Move - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/try5trf.png","datePublished":"2025-03-24T14:56:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-24T14:56:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/try5trf.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/try5trf.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=18526#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING NEWS: Lions and Dan Campbell Called Out for &#8216;Foolish&#8217; Move"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15","name":"MrKen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrKen"},"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18528,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18526\/revisions\/18528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}