John Lynch Won't Be Joining the Ex-Buc Exodus to Detroit

Rod Marinelli has accepted the torch from Bill Parcells and now can officially be referred to as Mr. "My Guy." Meaning, he likes players he knows and who he knows he can trust in the locker room and in his system. That's why you've seen so many ex-Bucs -- Jon Bradley, Chuck Darby, Brian Kelly, Kalvin Pearson, Corey Smith, Dwight Smith, and Dewayne White -- migrate north to join the coach in Detroit. It certainly wasn't for the city's majestic scenery.

So the natural question, when you see John Lynch -- who played the prime of a very good career with Marinelli watching from the sideline -- being freed from Denver, is whether he'll join that list.

Whether Lynch decides he wants to play again in the NFL or not, it seems as if he has a soft spot in his heart for Marinelli. Which isn't to say Lynch has interest in playing in Detroit. Which is good, because the Lions aren't interested in him.

Marinelli cites the team's depth at safety for staying away, which is sort of a valid excuse; the Lions actually do look good at that position. But if Lynch was still the even half of the Lynch that Marinelli used to watch everyday (or even half the Lynch of two years ago), the Lions would do whatever they could to find a way to get him on the field.

The truth is, Marinelli has turned away a couple of ex-Bucs (SEE: Rice, Simeon), so he's not sporting pewter blinders. At 36 and with an almost completely diminished skillset, Lynch simply has nothing of on-field value to offer the Lions.