One of the Lions' least heralded additions last offseason was one of their best. Roy Lopez wasn't exactly a headliner. His signing was met with a tepid response. A year later, the general consensus is that the Lions should bring him back.
"I’m a true believer that you can continue to grow and get better at football," Lopez said.
On the interior of a defensive line featuring $97 million man Alim McNeill, 10-year vet D.J. Reader and first-round pick Tyleik Williams, Lopez was the most productive player. He signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with Detroit, then led the aforementioned group in tackles (30), tackles for loss (4), sacks (2) and quarterback hits (5) despite playing fewer snaps than each of them.
That might say as much about the guys around him as Lopez himself, but make no mistake: Lopez played some good football this season, in his view the best of his career.
"I think that's a credit to the more years you play in the league, you get to see things faster," he said. "And also a credit to the group of guys I played with, man. They helped me a lot, they taught me a lot."
Lopez spent the first four years of his career on losing teams with the Texans and Cardinals. He was drawn to Detroit by the chance to play for a winner and for a head coach he admired from afar. The season didn't play out the way the Lions envisioned, but Lopez hopes his first year under Dan Campbell wasn't his last. He said he's "very open" to a return.
"I love this place for what it did for me, as a person, as a player, everything, man," Lopez said. "I’ve grown so much being here. It was awesome to be part of this room and learn from D.J., learn from Alim, learn from Hutch and even (the guys) across the line of scrimmage, I got to learn so much.
"And from the top-bottom, hearing Dan talk, from a player that wants to be a coach one day, you talk about coaching from your heart and talking from your heart, there’s no one better in the business when he does it. You listen when he talks, because you can hear it in his voice, that he loves you, he loves the game and he loves this team, so it was a blessing."
The Lions will have to give Lopez a raise to bring him back. He's earned one. He's projected to be worth more than $6 million per year on the open market, per Spotrac. He didn't have any talks with the Lions during the season about a new deal, but with Reader's $13 million cap hit coming off the books (his deal will still cost Detroit about $3.7 million next season due to a void year), they can probably afford to keep Lopez around.
Lopez, 28, comes from a family of football coaches. One of his uncles -- the one who convinced him to pursue defensive line instead of offensive line in college -- is still his offseason trainer. He got to show a little bit more of his game in Detroit than in Arizona, where he was primarily a nose tackle taking on centers. With the Lions, Lopez played all over the interior of the defensive line, getting most of his snaps against guards in the B gap.
"I was playing both, which was great for me, because I feel like I'm a guy that can go inside, I can play 3-technique, I can play 1-technique, I can play zero, and that comes with playing years in the league, man. The more snaps you get, the more confidence you gain," said Lopez. "And I think my style of play, man, I go out there and have fun."
Detroit's run defense sagged in key games down the stretch, but Lopez was rarely part of the problem. In fact, he was the second highest-graded run defender on the Lions' line this season behind Aidan Hutchinson, per PFF. He also popped as a pass-rusher as the year went on, an area of his game that continues to improve.
"I love the way I’ve grown my pass-rushing skills throughout my time in the league, so those drills are always fun to do in the offseason," said Lopez, a two-time state champion wrestler in high school. "But you can’t get away from what got you here and your roots and being a run-stopper and pad level, so I’ll definitely be on the MMA mat and wrestle around and grapple a little bit, throw some hands. I like to keep things fun, so I’ll bounce around a little bit."
The Lions were close to making the playoffs despite a disappointing season, "as close as you can get," said Lopez. A play here or a play there in one of their eight losses, five of them by one score, might have made the difference. Fact is, those plays eluded them. They are home because they deserve to be. It will fuel all of them this offseason, Lopez included.
He hopes to be back. If not, "if this is the last day I walk into this building," he said, "I loved every minute of it, man."
"I loved the group I was part of, the team I was part of and I didn't take a second for granted," Lopez said. "I knew where I was at when I was there, my feet were where they belonged. It was awesome, man. I loved it."