Lions Insider

The Lions are optimistic about the prospects of re-signing most of their key free agents this offseason. Lions president Tom Lewand said as much when talking to reporters at the Super Bowl last week.

“We are going to work as hard as we can to get deals done for all of them and fit everyone into that limited budget that all the 32 teams face when it comes to the salary cap,” Lewand said. “But there are only so many eggs in the basket.”

That means prioritization is key, and the biggest eggs need to get their space in the basket first.

The Lions have four starters who are free agents at some key positions on the field -- defensive end Cliff Avril, left tackle Jeff Backus, middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch and cornerback Eric Wright.

Avril has garnered most of the headlines from this group, but he isn’t the most vital.

Getting Tulloch re-signed is more imperative to the Lions’ success on defense next season.

Avril, 25, is a budding star in the league. His 11 sacks and six forced fumbles led the team. He was voted the defensive player of the year by his teammates and his future is bright.

Tulloch, however, is closer to irreplaceable status.

Sure, the Lions could move DeAndre Levy back to the middle, but then they’d be weaker in the middle and on the outside at linebacker.

“I’m not going to get into each specific free agent (and) if we’re going to bring them back, but I’ll talk about Stephen Tulloch,” Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said in a sit-down with beat writers after the season. “I thought he did a great job for us this year. Mike linebackers are (a) critical position on our team, you know, he’s the quarterback of our defense.”

Tulloch led the team in tackles (111) and chipped in three sacks and two interceptions. He also recovered a fumble for a touchdown in the Lions second meeting against the Vikings.

Tulloch is fast and smart and turned out to be everything the Lions were looking for in a Mike linebacker. He's also reliable, playing in every game since entering the league in 2006.

“He understands our defense, coaches feel very comfortable with him, he’s a good leader and he’s good in the locker room, so we’d really like to have him back,” Mayhew said.

If the Lions can’t re-sign Avril to a new long-term contract, it will certainly be a blow to the defense. However, if they lose Avril, there are other options under contract ready to step in to fill the void.

Defensive end Lawrence Jackson had six sacks in 11 games in a reserve role in 2010 after coming over from the Seahawks in a trade. He had 4.5 sacks this season, despite missing five games because of a deep thigh bruise.

Defensive end Willie Young took the biggest leap forward of any the team’s second-year players this season, and proved he could make plays (three sacks) when given an opportunity to do so.

At linebacker, veteran Bobby Carpenter is a free agent and rookie Doug Hogue is still developing in only his third year playing linebacker. The Lions don't have a lot of options there on the roster.

Levy is better suited for the outside and the combination of Tulloch in the middle and Levy and Justin Durant on the outside is a solid foundation for the Lions moving forward. The Lions would hate to take a step back at linebacker after taking such a big step forward with the additions of Tulloch and Durant this offseason.

Re-signing Tulloch is a must for the Lions.