Before he left the practice facility on Monday for the final time this season, Lions co-captain Taylor Decker planned to sit down with president Rod Wood. He knows change is on the horizon with a new regime taking over this offseason, and he knows a lot of that change is inevitable.
Decker, one of the Lions' longest-tenured vets, just wants to voice his opinion on some of the players and coaches that are already here. Specifically, some of the players and coaches he believes the team should keep.
"I’m not going to overstep, but I’m going to go and have conversations," Decker said Monday as the Lions cleaned out their lockers after a 5-11 season. "Probably here in an hour or two I’m going to see if Rod's available. I’m going to go talk to Rod and just give my opinion, because I am invested in this team and there are people that, if it were up to me, I would want to keep. That’s not my decision to make, but over the past five years I feel like I’ve put a lot into this organization and given what I can, so if I can just go put a word in for a player or a coach, I’ll do it.
"It all comes down to, I want to win. This city has become my home. It’s been a frustrating year, but we do have pieces that can help us win in the future."
One of those pieces may or may not be Matthew Stafford. If the next general manager decides a full rebuild is in order, Stafford will likely be gone. Decker, who signed a four-year extension with the Lions prior to the start of this season, would naturally prefer for Stafford to stay.
"I don’t know what’s going to happen, obviously that’s not my call to make. But I love Stafford," Decker said. "He’s, for me personally, my most respected teammate that I’ve ever played with. I couldn’t have more respect for the guy. You see it year in and year out, and I’m sure you guys have seen it before I was even here, how tough that guy is, how professional that guy is. And he more than anybody, he’ll tell you, 'I want to win. I love playing football and I’ll do anything I can to try and put this team and this organization in a position to win.'
"Again, there’s a lot of unknowns and I don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen, but I would love to be able to keep playing (with him) and keep protecting his blindside, because I love him. The dude is a phenomenal talent, he’s a phenomenal football player, he’s a phenomenal teammate and friend. So whatever happens, happens, but I think everybody knows I love Stafford -- and I’ll keep telling everybody that."
Will he bring that opinion to Wood, that Stafford is one of those 'pieces' worth keeping around?
"Of course," Decker smiled. "That’s a short, simple answer."
Decker was the leader of one of the only position groups that excelled this season for Detroit. The team's offensive line was a strength, anchored by Decker at left tackle and Frank Ragnow at center. So it's fair to assume he'll also vouch for his fellow linemen -- and offensive line coach Hank Fraley -- in his chat with Wood.
"I think our position group had a really good year," Decker said. "I would say in five years this is the best we played consistently, and I think we have some really good pieces to build on. It seems like I’m the old guy in the room, and I’m 27. So hopefully that bodes well for the future. And then personally, I think I had a really good year. I think I was one of the best tackles in football. I wasn’t going to say that during the season, but the season’s over now and hopefully that’s something I can build on and improve upon."
On top of specific personnel, Decker said he also planned to share with Wood his perspective on certain 'day to day' things that are working well in the building.
"It’s really easy to just say, 'OK, we’ll just go in and blow up everything.' But I think there are some pieces that are working well and could continue to work. For the player input, things that we’re dealing with every single day in meetings, if there’s something that we like, I think they’d be open to hearing those opinions," he said.
For Decker, it's about laying the foundation for success in the place where he wants to spend his entire career.
"I don’t want to try and overstep and say that I know everything, because I don’t. I just want to give my perspective to see if that can help, because I want to help this team. I help this team on the field, but if I can do it off, I would love to," Decker said.
As for the organization's search for a new head coach and new general manager, Decker said he plans to stay out of the way.
"I don’t think I can speak as much to other candidates or people that aren’t in the building every single day," he said. "I think my perspective is more on any pieces that we have here. So I’m not going to say anything about who the possible head coach is or who the possible GM is, because I don’t know anything about any of that and I’m going to let them due their process on that."