Detroit

Lions

It was reported earlier that the Lions were expected to sign Bates at the end of the NFL season. Now, ESPN’s Adam Schefter has confirmed that the kicking phenom will sign a two-year deal for a chance to compete with Michael Badgley for the starting job in camp. Bates was 6-of-10 on field goals of 50-plus yards during the UFL regular season and blasted a 64-yard game-winner in Week 1 for the Michigan Panthers. Before signing with the Lions, Bates also met with the Commanders and Packers.

Bates visited with the Commanders last week but appears set to join the Lions. Currently kicking for the UFL’s Michigan Panthers, Bates has turned into a spring football phenom after making multiple field goals of 60-plus yards and going 6-of-10 on field goals of 50-plus yards on the season. Bates converted on 17 of his 22 attempts (77.3 percent) in the regular season and first caught the attention of football fans when he converted a 64-yard game-winning field goal in Week 1 of the UFL season. He’ll have a chance to compete for the Lions starting kicker job against incumbent Michael Badgley, who made all four of his field goal attempts in his four games with the team. Badgley is a career 82.4 percent kicker and has made just five field goals of 50-plus yards.

The Lions traded up with the Cowboys to select Arnold with the No. 24 overall pick in this year’s draft. He’s one of a handful of players the Lions have added to their defense in hopes of improving a secondary that allowed the sixth-most passing yards and passing touchdowns last season. In his final season at Alabama, Arnold totaled five interceptions and 6.5 TFLs on his way to earning First-team All-American and First-team All-SEC honors.

The Lions have already acknowledged their violation and have forfeited a team practice that was previously scheduled for Monday, June 10. The Lions are set to have their final week of OTAs next week, which was planned to run from Monday through Wednesday. With Monday’s practice now canceled, the team will instead get in work on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up their offseason program ahead of training camp.

Sutton, 29, played for the Steelers from 2017 to 2022 before a one-year stint with the Lions, who released him in April. Sutton in April was charged with one count of misdemeanor domestic battery. He’s been accused of domestic battery by strangulation, a third-degree felony in the state of Florida, where the incident allegedly happened, according to SportingNews.com. Sutton faces up to five years in prison if convicted. He has nine interceptions over seven NFL seasons.

Lions GM Brad Holmes said two weeks ago said the team is ramping up the second-year back for a heftier workload in 2024. Montgomery said the team needs Gibbs “to go from a passing game standpoint is go to the next level. ... I do think there’s a certain difference between being a really efficient check-down versus a great route-runner, a guy that can run all types of choice (routes). We know we’ve seen him do those things. But now can you go into the slot and a little bit more down the field, some intermediate stuff. Can we continue to grow him there, and that’s what we’re trying to do.” This is standard fare for offseason talk of a talented pass-catching running back. Gibbs in 2023 ran 9.2 percent of his routes from the slot. We could see a slight bump in that slot usage but it doesn’t change much about his statistical profile.

Williams desperately needs a third-year leap after spending much of his rookie season recovering from a torn ACL and kicking off his second year with a six-game suspension for violating the league’s gambling policies. Williams played in 12 games last season, totaling 24 receptions for 354 yards and two scores while being targeted on 17.4 percent of his routes. The 6-foot-1 speedster is expected to be well behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta in the target pecking order but can add another element to a Lions’ passing game that has lacked a reliable WR2 during the Dan Campbell era. As far as fantasy is concerned, Williams could have fringe WR2/WR3 potential if he’s able to put everything together, making him a potential steal in drafts this summer.

The Rams selected Brockers No. 14 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. He spent nine seasons with the team before joining the Lions in 2021. Brockers racked up 57 tackles for loss or no gain over his 11-year career, bullying linemen as a run-stopper and part-time pass rusher. He spent 2023 as a free agent before announcing his retirement on social media this week.

Caleb Williams will experience his first Thanksgiving matchup, heading to Detroit in Week 13. The Bears have invested heavily into Williams, with Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, and D’Andre Swift joining DJ Moore and company in what looks to be an exciting offense. They will face an established high-powered offense in Jared Goff and the Lions, who have not won on Thanksgiving since 2016. Fantasy managers will be glued to the screen Thanksgiving afternoon hoping to watch both offenses feast.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford heads back to his former home while Lions quarterback Jared Goff hosts his former team after freshly signing a four-year, $212 million contract extension. This will be a rematch of last season’s Wild Card game, where the Lions bested the Rams 24-23. Goff and Stafford were dealt for each other in 2021, with the Rams winning a Super Bowl and the Lions making it to the Conference Championship since then. This game will kick off Sunday Night Football for the season and will feature many fantasy-relevant players, including top receivers Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, and Amon-Ra St. Brown.