Vanden Bosch over Kampman was Smart Choice

When the NFL free agency opened up at 12:01 AM today, and the Detroit Lions head coach, Jim Schwartz was already sitting in the driveway of Defensive End, Kyle Vanden Bosch. They have since signed him to a 4 year deal. The move to go for Vanden Bosch was a smart move by the Lions brass.

In my personal opinion, Aaron Kampman is the better DE of the two. His stats have shown as much with double digit sacks before moving to the 3-4 defense. But if the Lions would have gone after Kampman first, there was a better chance that he would still have signed with another team and in the mean time, they might have lost there chance with Vanden Bosch. Schwartz has a history with Vanden Bosch from when he was a defensive coordinator for the Titans. He knew there was a much stronger chance of signing Vanden Bosch than Kampman, so he went with the higher chance of making a deal.

It was important for the Lions to sign a defensive end in free agency and it would have been a hard hill to climb if they would not have gotten one. The importance of making a deal made Vanden Bosch the smarter play.

In signing Kyle Vanden Bosch, the Lions will not need to address the DE position in the draft now, allowing them to hit other positions that are in bigger need.