With All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams in a contract standoff with the Jets, there's at least a chance he gets traded before the start of this season. And if so, Valenti says Brad Holmes and the Lions should be first in line to try to acquire him:
"You add this guy to the middle of this defense, a defense that played at a top 10 level the last 10 weeks of last season, you’re a Super Bowl team. Are you ready to go all-in? I don't need next year’s first-rounder. I don't want to talk about draft capital any more. This is one of the pivotal seasons in Lions history, right here, right now. This upcoming season could cement Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell and the next several years of Lions football as maybe being a golden era for everybody involved. I want in."
Valenti says Holmes should call Jets GM Joe Douglas right now and offer the Lions' first-round pick and third-round pick in next year's draft. And he'd even consider offering two first-rounders:
"If the Jets can’t get this guy signed and you offer the Jets a 1 and a 3 and you get Williams signed to a four-year, $110 million contract, I’m ready. I’m ready to go in and do this because this is about one thing. It’s not about winning a division or hosting a playoff game. It’s not about winning playoff games or getting to the NFC title game or getting to the Super Bowl and going home with your garden hose in your hand. It’s about winning the Lombardi Trophy. It is about winning it all."
Williams, 25, is coming off a breakout season in which he racked up 12 sacks and established himself as one of the best defensive players in the game. If the Lions are as good as they expect to be this year, Valenti says "you're not picking in the top 20 of the draft again" and you're better off using future picks to acquire a proven star:
"I would take your first-round and third-round pick next year and I’d call the Jets right now. And you can laugh at me, but if you laugh at me then you’re laughing at Howie Roseman, the general manager who’s built the single best roster in all of football, the Philadelphia Eagles. Howie Roseman is one of the most aggressive traders to acquire talent in all of football. You know who else is aggressive? The other team you’re chasing in the NFC, the 49ers. John Lynch is aggressive. My belief is, you put Quinnen Williams in the middle of this defense, you become a team that is on par with Philly and San Fran. Can’t say you’re better than them and maybe you’re not quite as good, but boy, you’re sitting at that dinner table. Quinnen Williams is a game-breaker. He is a mandatory double-team. He’s a freakshow.
"Oh, you’re going to have to pay him, but this is a story worth monitoring. The Jets just acquired Aaron Rodgers, spent a lot of money. They’re not exactly in line to dole out the $25, $26, $27 million per year it might take for Quinnen Williams."
And with several of the Lions' top players on rookie-wage deals for the next few years, Valenti says they "have all the money in the world" to pay a player like Williams.
"Making a phone call when nobody thinks a player is available or when a player is disgruntled," as Williams appears to be in New York, is "what the elite GM’s do," says Valenti. "When the moment strikes, you are willing to go out and shock the world and make a very bold move … for one of the elite game-wreckers who’s just entering his prime."
So, Quinnen Williams to Detroit? Who says no?
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