Lions Offseason Cuts (Dre Bly, Hall & Bell?) (Verba Cut)

[Wizzle]

According to the Free Press, Dre Bly has been given permission to seek a trade.

February 14, Free Press: Lions president Matt Millen and coach Rod Marinelli have given cornerback Dre' Bly permission to seek a trade.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Matt and Rod allowing me the opportunity to find a home for Dre' Bly that is more conducive to his Pro Bowl skill set," Bly's agent, Kennard McGuire, said Tuesday.

He doesn't appear to fit in Rod Marinelli's defensive scheme, and he's owed quite a bit of cash for 2007.

February 14, Detroit News: Bly was not as effective last year playing in coach Rod Marinelli's Tampa Two defense, which requires the cornerbacks to be more physical against the run.

Bly will cost the Lions more than $5.4 million against their salary cap if he is with the team next season.

cleaning house time.....add another hole on defense.....it will be interesting to see what they can get for him though

[Glenn]

Ugh.

They need more Dre Blys, not fewer.

LMAO that he has "tremendous respect for Millen" for allowing him to get the hell out of here.

Can't blame him one bit.

[Black Dynamite]

lol@the Lions. ironic that he lead the revolt to x out joey harrington, then jumps ship his damn self..lol..probably heard mooch masy run the chargers and wanted to be ready to follow him.

[b-diddy]

Ugh.

They need more Dre Blys, not fewer.

LMAO that he has "tremendous respect for Millen" for allowing him to get the hell out of here.

Can't blame him one bit.

no, they need to put guys like dre bly on crusifixes so that we can all be entertained by their slow, painful deaths.

dre bly is a fuckhead, and him demanding out is the best thing he's done for this organization. only an organization filled with assholes like the lions would have named dre bly a captain. i sincerely hope we send him down to miami so we can reunite him with his favorite excuse, the piano man.

[Zekyl]

That would be extremely ironic.

[Hermy]

football players are all assholes. This team needs talent so fucking bad.

[Tahoe]

I see this as good news.

[luniz]

I don't think he's "demanding out". He doesn't fit the system, period.

[Glenn]

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...126/SPORTS0101

Bly says leaving is Lions' call

If it were up to Dré Bly, he wouldn't be going anywhere.

But he says it's not his decision.

Bly says his sooner-than-later exit from Detroit is being orchestrated by the Lions. Basically, the Lions are saying they don't need the services of the All-Pro cornerback any longer.

So, Bly was told he and his agent, Kennard McGuire, could work out a trade. Otherwise, expect to be released.

"I wouldn't mind staying, but it's not like it's my decision," Bly told The Detroit News on Wednesday. "They're going in a different direction and I don't want to be a part of something, be here, if I'm not in the plans.

"I respect them for telling me."

Lions president Matt Millen did not return phone calls.

Bly, the face of the Lions the past four seasons, isn't bitter. He understands the business of football. And in this case, he's happy the Lions gave him a chance to control his own destiny.

"They gave me the opportunity to shop around, see what's out there," said Bly, who has not been contacted by any other teams yet.

This didn't hit Bly, who turns 30 in May, like a ton of bricks. The change in direction became clear during Bly's first meeting with new defensive coordinator Joe Barry. Barry talked about the rumors swirling that Bly wasn't wanted anymore and there was a chance he could be cut June 1.

It makes sense.

The Lions, under Rod Marinelli, use the Tampa Two defense, a cover 2 system. Bly is used to running a big-play defense.

"A guy of my caliber is not needed (in the Tampa Two)," said Bly, who is scheduled to make $4.2 million this season.

"I'm a cover corner, a guy who makes plays."

Consider Bly's numbers last season: three interceptions, down from six in 2005.

"This system doesn't need the kind of player that I am," said Bly, a Pro Bowl starter in 2004. "And that's a playmaking corner that likes to match up."

No regrets
No one who has ever come to Detroit was more enthusiastic about being part of the solution than Bly.

Sure, his five-year, $24.5 million free-agent contract signed in 2003 was incentive, but Bly really wanted to turn this team into a winner.

"It's been frustrating," said Bly, who was part of a Super Bowl champion with the Rams. "It's hard going to work every day when you're not successful. Anybody would struggle, going to work four straight years and being at the bottom of the barrel. It makes it not fun to go to work."

But Bly isn't the first big-name player to get the door -- remember Herman Moore and Robert Porcher?

Still, Bly is looking positively at what the future holds.

"We probably want this to go as fast and smooth as possible," he said. "But it's no bad taste in my mouth. Everything I experienced here, other than (not) winning football games, was good."

[b-diddy]

football players are all assholes. This team needs talent so fucking bad.

being an asshole is fine. maybe even good.

blaming everyone but yourself rather than working harder is bad, though.

rather than saying 'no one is gettnig the job done. no one on this team is outworking the guy he lines up against. we all need to work harder and longer. its not the pieces, its the effort.', dre through joey under the bus. not only should you never do that, but if dre really thought a new qb would fix everything, his football iq isnt high enough to keep him around as a waterboy.

this year was supposed to be about changing the culture of the franchise. so what did we do? we named our best finger pointer captain. we also went 3-13. thats our lovable losers, though. they can do virtually nothing right.