The Detroit Lions need to do some more work in the receiving room. They’re still looking to find that definitive number two guy for them. They also needed to make sure that they could keep some solid depth in the building. That’s why they’re re-signing Donovan Peoples-Jones. But that signing could mean they don’t plan to bring back Josh Reynolds. Here’s why:
The Lions made a trade for Peoples-Jones at the trade deadline last year and I thought it was solid move that would give him a chance to be the number two guy. The Lions never really used him during the back half of the season. He wound up being targeted seven times and caught five of those. The Lions used as their kick returner in the playoffs and it didn’t go so well. Still, the team sees him as a rising player and at 25-years-old, maybe they’re right.
I went into this offseason thinking that the Lions would bring back one of the other. Josh Reynolds or Donovan Peoples-Jones. Never did I think both. The team has not signed Josh Reynolds back yet and they may not. Reynolds is expected to get a pretty good deal and he could be a guy that teams like the Patriots or The Chargers could pay a lot to help with their barren receiving corps after letting guys go or missing out on signings.
People’s-Jones could play the role that Reynolds played in theory. There’s similarities in their games. On top of that, the Lions were meeting with many of the drafts top receivers at the NFL Combine. It’s expected by some, myself included, that the Lions could take one in the first round.
Couple all of that with the news out of the combine that Jameson Williams is expected to get a lot more touches next year and you suddenly find the Lions top three options. Reynolds would be at four if were to come back. That doesn’t make sense for him. It does make sense for Peoples-Jones though. We’ll see where things go in the coming weeks.