Lions GM’S future riding on draft
Quinn has struggled to duplicate the success he achieved with the Patriots
While the NFL Draft does not start until Thursday, Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn knows he is already on the clock.
It has nothing to do with whether he will trade the No. 3 pick overall in Thursday’s draft or move back in hopes of adding more assets.
Now entering his fifth season as executive vice-president and general manager for the Lions, Quinn’s blueprint for success from 16 years spent with the New England Patriots has not played out the same way in Detroit.
After missing the playoffs the past three seasons, Lions’ owner Martha Ford Firestone made it clear near the end of last season that Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia would return, but changes would have to be made if the duo did not produce this season.
“I feel pressure every day I wake up and do my job,” Quinn said. “What was said was said, and listen, I’ve had really, really good conversations all the time with the Ford family and we really have a good working relationship.
“They want to win, and that’s our goal, too. The pressure’s the same for me. It always has been from Day 1 to right now.”
There is pressure for Quinn on Thursday. Many expect him to deal out of the No. 3 spot to bring more picks or player help to the organization, but Quinn has not moved out of his draft spot in the first round in his first four years with Detroit.
“Obviously, when you’re talking about value and you’re talking about tiers in the draft, if you drop from your Tier 1 to your Tier 2, then you’re getting a different level player,” Quinn said. “So, the draft-value chart might get thrown out the window because if you’re going to do that, you better get a huge return. You better win that trade on the value chart, double.”
And, if history is any indication, there’s no guarantee staying in the No. 3 selection will deliver the Lions a bona fide star player.
Sure there were Hall of Famers Barry Sanders in 1989 and Johnny Robinson in 1960, but there was also quarterback Joey Harrington in 2002, Bennie Blades in 1988 and halfback Howard Cassidy in 1956, who never came close to that status.
“We’re trying to put together the best team, whether that’s through the draft or free agency or any other avenue that we have that we use throughout the season,” Quinn said. “We’re ready, we’re excited about it and we’re ready to get going on Thursday.”
Quinn has also hitched his future to Patricia, who he brought in from New England to replace Jim Caldwell after back-to-back 9-7 seasons. However, Patricia has just nine wins in two seasons in Detroit and several players that have left the organization have not been shy about voicing their displeasure about playing under him.
“I haven’t talked about it a ton, but you can go ask anybody in the locker-room right now what they think of coach and how he runs the team, and they’re 100 per cent behind him,” Quinn said.
“You can’t make everybody happy in this business in terms of how you do certain things, but I can just say from the guys that we’ve signed in free agency, the guys that wanted to be here, a number of guys in our free-agent class reached out to us.
“We obviously liked them as players, but in the weeks leading up to free agency, those guys had their agent call me and say, ‘Hey, my guy wants to be there and play for coach.’ So, you just have conversations with guys like Duron Harmon, who we traded (with New England) for. I mean, I’ve never seen a player more excited to be traded (here) and we’ve done a lot of trades since I’ve been here than Duron Harmon. I mean, he was like literally jumping out of my Facetime wanting to come out here immediately. I have no concerns with (Patricia) at all.”